Lusorium
by Ngetal Child
Summary: The sequel to Dollhouse, the Ghost Bird team is thrown into turmoil and chaos once more when Dr. Sir escapes the mental facility and goes on the warpath. When pressure mounts and the lives are put on the line, will Sean and Owen be able to beat Dr. Sir at his own game or will they lose everything they hold dear?
1. 1 Momentum Mori

AN: Well hello my lovely doves to my new project, the much talked about sequel to Dollhouse. As a sequel, I highly recommend that you first read that. For those of you who have already read that, you have an idea of what you are getting yourselves into, but I must provide a clear warning first. This story will have a high PG-13 rating and does contain gruesome, dark, and intense scenarios. If you cannot handle that, then this story is not for you I am afraid. If you are prepared for that fact, then please enjoy and as always, let me know what you think!

Lusorium Part 1:Momento Mori

Pulling into my usual parking space, I took a moment to gather myself for the coming shift. I had been running the Autryville Mental Health Clinic for the last 25 years, but I always needed to mentally prepare myself before walking into the doors every morning. The relatively innocuous name was intentionally designed to be relatively generic to cover up its full nature. Hidden in the outskirts of the small town of Autryville, North Carolina, AMHC was in fact one of the highest security facilities for the criminally insane in the entire state. Some of the most dangerous individuals from the surrounding states were sent through our doors and it made for an extremely volatile work environment.

The clock on my dashboard read 3:45 am so I had a few minutes before I needed to get out. Just absorbing the gentle heat from my vents, I closed my eyes as I took a series of deep breaths. Replaying the image of my beautiful wife and adorable daughter as they slept through my daily kiss before heading off to work, I took a moment to bask in my love for them and bolster myself up with memories of happy days. Pulling out my phone as I did every morning before work, I sent my customary morning greetings before promptly powering down the device and sticking it in my glove box. Cell phones were prohibited at work, so he always left it in his car.

Finding my resolve as I somehow did every morning, I turned off my car and attached my work belt before I walked out into the brisk pre-dawn air. Marching up to the sensor at the front entrance, I swiped my security card and was admitted with a faint buzz as the words **Bath, Anthony** lit up across the small screen. Walking into the front lobby, I was surprised to find the front desk empty. Doris had been the overnight front secretary for the facility almost as long I had been the director and she never left her station until the early morning shift change over.

Walking up to the front desk and it's double-paned bullet proof glass, I looked into the small booth out of curiosity. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary but with the beginning tendrils of unease crawling up my spine, I turned on my walkie talkie.

"Doris? Ken? Eddie? Do you read me?"

Static met my query and I waited for a moment of two in tense silence. Repeating my first attempt, my unease became blatant worry as the white noise seemed to scream in the heavy silence. Grimly, I shut off the walkie talkie once more, the sudden quiet ringing in my ears. Without having any other option, I let myself through the next security doors. Not entirely certain as to what I was expecting, I started forward down the long corridor, the silence loud and almost deafening in its entirety.

The late night shift at the Clinic was rather skeleton, with only two health care providers per residency floor and two security personnel per checkpoint. All together, that only made up a crew of about 18 individuals, 19 including Doris. Compared to the day shift with its almost 58 personnel, the building tended to be a rather quiet place at night usually.

Despite it being so sparse, I always ran into at least a handful of people on my way to my office normally. The continued absence of anyone in sight had the hairs on the back of my neck rising and my heart was beginning to pound. Something was not right, I could feel it in the very depth of my being. Breaking out into a cold sweat at the second empty security point, I tentatively opened the second door, my mouth suddenly bone dry.

Once more, silence greeted me as a seemingly abandoned lobby came into view. Wetting my lips nervously, I made my way to the elevator that would take me up to my office on the fourth. Swiping my pass across the sensor, I was bewildered to find the whole thing unresponsive. Swiping my card frantically across the sensor another dozen times yielded the same maddening result. My anxiety was ever rising as I was forced to take the stairs heading up, my hands drifting to the handgun I kept at my waist. Forced to enter the second level of the building, the first residency floor, I cautiously began making my way to the next stairwell.

As I crept down the deserted hallway, I pulled out my piece, a Berretta M9 9mm, raising it parallel to the ground. My heart was galloping in my chest as I slowly made my way forward. Straining my senses, I struggled to pick up any and every sound that may be out of place. I was only about a stones throw away from the second stairwell when a loud thump ripped through the stillness, jolting me and sending my whirling. My arms were shaking as I came face to face with fever bright eyes deep set in a sallow face.

Peering out at me through the small window in the door was a grinning Pierce Bryant. Aged 34 and resident of the clinic for over 12 years, the schizophrenic was known for his relatively mild, almost childlike behavior, but could devolve into extremely aggressive and violent behavior at the drop of a hat. I had had to remind new personnel more than once to not be lulled into a false sense of security around the man before. After all, this was the same man who had slit his sister and two nieces throats because one of his delusions had told him they were really monsters. Shaking with the adrenaline pumping through my system, I slowly lowered my gun and addressed the resident who was now lightly tapping at the glass.

"Pierce, you know you shouldn't be up right now. It's another two hours at least until medication time and breakfast."

Pierce's electric blue eyes only gleamed at me in response as his tapping on the glass became a little closer to knocking. Grinning widely, he started to sing in a warbling falsetto.

"There was a man in our town,

And he was wondrous wise,

He jumped into a bramble bush,

And scratched out both his eyes~!"

Dissolving into a fit of deranged giggles, he started out tapping at the glass once more. Realizing that he must have somehow avoided taking his medication last night and beyond chilled by the eerie exchange, I started slowly backing away but he wasn't finished with me yet it seems.

"Careful now, Mr. Bath, Terry says you better tread softly, softly like a teeny mouse! He says you shouldn't look, no you shouldn't! If your not careful, that quack, he'll take your eyes, pop them out, one, two, just pop pop like a grape! And then he'll hunt you down as you scream and with a Cheshire grin, you'll go quiet, oh yes you will!"

Appalled to find myself so unnerved by the mad ramblings of a man I dealt with nearly every day, I frantically swiped at the next sensor and yanked open the door as Pierce's laughter chased me up the stairs. No longer taking it slowly and determined to make it to my desk to call the police, I charged into the third floor. Housing the most dangerous of our residences, these rooms were sound proof and contained extra security features. Unsurprisingly, no one was in sight and I couldn't even tell at this point if it was silent or not due to the thundering roar of blood in my ears.

I managed to pass through to the final security stairwell door without any distractions and ran up the last flight of stairs. The fourth floor was where all the offices, therapy rooms, and conference hall was located, including my office at the very far end of the building. The fourth floor security booth was vacant and the entire area was cast in unnatural darkness. Shaking frenetically at this point and with my heart in my throat, I crept my way to the closest light fixture. With trembling fingers, I flipped the light switch and the sudden burst of fluorescent lighting blinded me for a few harrowing minutes.

The second my eyes cleared, gun raised and primed, I frantically scanned the three corridors which stretched out on either side of me and to the front. Once again, all I was met with was starkly empty hallways, completely devoid of life. Feeling my heart pick up and my breathing labor in my chest, I slowly made my way down to my office. I looked into each office as I passed through and was relieved to find them all blissfully empty.

Halting in front of office door, the only one that was closed in the entire row of offices, I had to take a minute to gather myself. My focus seemed to sharpen to a lazer sharp edge as I realized that the door was not quite as shut as I had first thought, which sent alarm bells screaming through my head. As the director, my office not only had a security key sensor, but a thumb print and voice recognition security entry as well. Only with all three of those factors was the door supposed to unlock.

With a twitching hand, I lightly pushed open my office door. It was like it waded through molasses as it opened painfully slowly, the resounding creak jarringly loud in the haunting calm. A single beam of light fell into the cavernous room, seeming to be swallowed by the gloom mere steps from the entrance. Almost afraid to even breath, I blindly reached out until my fingers brushed the light fixture. Feeling as if my heart was threatening to break through my rib cage, I flicked on the light.

And then promptly vomited violently on my own shoes. Completely past the point of caring, my legs collapsed out from under me as I sank to the ground like a rock. My breath began sawing in and out of my chest as as I could only stare in complete and all consuming horror at the scene that lay before me. I distantly was aware that I was hyperventilating, my head spinning between lack of oxygen and shock. And then I started screaming. I don't know how long I sat there in my own sick, screaming bloody murder. It could have been five minutes or it could have been hours for all I knew before I snapped back to some resemblance of reality.

**~warning of gore starts here~**

The whole room was bathed in violent shades of scarlet, crimson, and rust-black. Blood dripped from the bodies hanging from the ceiling fan, which lightly turned, swinging its load in a truly ghastly and horrific dance.. More corpses sat at my couch, propped over my crystal chess board in a disgusting parody of intense concentration. Each throat was torn open in a morbid gaping maw and it only took a moment to notice the gruesome muscle dangling through the opening which earned it its twisted moniker. I had heard of a Columbian Necktie before, but to see it in person was more horrible than I could ever say.

A sudden burst of musical notes drew my attention to the most gruesome site of the morning. A small music box that my daughter had given me last Father's day was tinkling away, a little bear dancing in circles on top. The remains of what used to be Doris Miller, long time colleague and friend, sat prominently at my prized black walnut desk. Taking trembling steps forward, feeling suddenly disconnected with my body, I stopped in front and found myself staring into the gaping holes that used to be her lovely green eyes. Scarlet rivers painted down her cheeks and her mouth was open in a silent scream, agony present in every line of her face. Her once long and wavy black hair was sheared off at her chin and completely missing in some spots, revealing the jagged, cruel marks of a knife. Her neck was as grisly a sight of torn muscle, cartilage, and bone swimming in a veil of black blood, but unlike the others, she had a red string holding a blood splattered envelope. Whether the string was originally red or not was unanswerable at this point.

Seemingly unable to help myself, I lightly tugged the loose bow, now crusted with rust red blood and picked up the small package. I was revolted to realize that what I had assumed was red ink was in fact dried blood. Fighting the urge to gag, I turned my attention to the front of the envelope. In flowing penmenship which bordered on calligraphic, I was startled awake by the writing on the front.

To My Esteemed Mr. Owen Blackbourne and Dr. Sean Greene, come out to play!

Feeling my stomach sink as as the metallic stench of blood coated my nose and mouth, I ripped open the sullied envelope in a frantic, hysterical motion. Pulling out the folded up note, My eyes flew over the disgustingly playful message as I fought to keep fraying control over my nerves.

Girls and boys, come out to play,

The moon bright as day;

Leave your supper, and leave your sleep,

And come with your playfellows into the street.

Come with a whoop, come with a call,

Come with a good will or not at all.

Up the ladder and down the wall,

A half-penny roll with serve us all.

You find milk, and I'll find flour,

And we'll have a pudding in half and hour.

I do hope you both like my little thank you present for the last years stay. I rather quite enjoyed your hospitality, but sadly I must leave it behind. I have a missing doll and two little monsters that need attending to I'm afraid. They must be missing me terribly you see. I really look forward to our next game together. We will have to set up a play date very soon, I think.

Sincerely Yours with Great Admiration,

Dr. Adam Ayers

The letter slipped from my shaking hands to flutter almost delicately to the floor as I rushed to the wastebasket and promptly emptied my stomach once more. It was only after I had recovered from a painful round of dry heaving that I reached for the phone and all I could think as I dialed the police was God help us all.

Dr. Adam Ayers had broken out and was on the warpath once more.

AN: Well there you have it my dear birdies! Things are just going to go downhill from there so buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride!


	2. 2 Omnia bona finem

AN: Alrighty my birdies, here is part 2! We will get to see how the GB crew and the wee ones are currently doing. This will be one of the last happy chapters for a bit, so I hope you enjoy. :D

Lusorium 2:Omnia bona finem

Swiping my hand though my mussed, periwinkle colored hair, cascading glitter dust everywhere, I had a moment to mourn the fact that I would be finding the tiny reflective devils for months to come. My normally green-hazel eyes were currently veiled by unnaturally metallic, copper-orange contacts and my skin was a pearlescent lavender. Turning my head to the side, the hints off pointed ears poked out through my wild waves.

Flashing a quick grin, I took a step back to get a better glimpse of the outfit that Gabriel had meticulously designed, an odd mix of indigo leather jerkin and breeches with a diaphanous material that displayed every shade of purple in the rainbow. While the material was so wispy and totally something you would normally see on a girl, the whole outfit somehow managed to still look rather masculine in an entirely satisfying way. Striking a few laughable poses, feeling more than a little ridiculous, I came to a final conclusion. I made fae lord look good.

"Are you done staring at yourself like a puffed up peacock, Sean?"

At Owen's sudden dry, sardonic tone, I whirled around more than a little sheepishly. Owen was leaning against the door frame, a hint of a mocking smirk on his lips. Glad my body paint covered my blush, I just rolled my jarring eyes back as I took a moment to admire more of Gabriel's many talents at work.

Owen was smartly dressed in a long navy overcoat, opened in the front to display the ivory linen shirt and silver brocade waistcoat that synched snugly at his waist. Tight charcoal breeches stretched across his muscular legs, only to fit into the tall, black leather boots he was currently sporting. A complicated, but meticulous cravat of lace bunched at his throat and in his black leather encased hands, he held a matching navy top hat. His dark hair was longer than normal, at Gabriel's request, and was held at his neck with a navy ribbon.

It was at this point that the sense of normalcy ended, however, especially when you looked closely at his face. A delicate pattern of silver-blue scales arched across his cheekbones and temples while platinum-casted, needle-like horns curved up from his forehead. His normal eyes were deemed unusual enough to fit the image of a Warlock.

Having finished my assessment and approval of his get-up, I decided to finally answer his rather snide question, making sure to shoot him a wide grin. "I was not staring, just admiring the full affect of my own majesty. You have to admit, Owen, I look fabulous! Never has a fae lord looked more stunning than I do right now!"

"Well, why don't you take your majestic and stunning ass and head upstairs, hmmm? The kids are en route and Gabriel wants to ensure that your costume turned out alright."

At that, Owen turned around and started leaving through the door. Struck by a genius rebuttal, I rushed up beside him and slung my arm around his shoulders. As I had hoped, after Owen shoved me away, clouds of glitter settled all across his back and part of his front. Skipping a few steps forward and turning around to walk backwards, I shot Owen a smug look as he desperately attempted to wipe off the gift that just kept giving. Little did Owen seem to realize, glitter was immortal. Once introduced to the material, you were stuck with it for life.

"Goodness Owen, stop dallying! There's shit to be done, my good sir!"

At Owen's fierce glare, I twirled back around with as much composure as a grinning lunatic could have and marched forward. After a few grumbled words, Owen caught up with me and none too gently smacked me on the back of the head. I just grinned wider, knowing his black glove would now look like something one would buy out of the Disney princess section in a toy store. Reaching the entrance to the building we had rented out, I had to stop and take a moment to absorb the full affect.

The entire foyer area was decked out in tapestries depicting various scenes from both The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments, the theme for the day's events. A giant banner stretched across the room with the words 'WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO SETH'S BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!'. Snickering lightly to myself at the wording that little Jaimie Ayers had insisted on, I started forward to the main room that the days activities would be starting out in, Owen a few steps behind me.

As we entered the room, it was to find a flamboyantly decked out Gabriel directing the troupe of makeup artists we had hired for the occasion. His normally boisterous hair was now a riot of Warlock orange, golds, and reds, somehow doused in more glitter than I was. Realistic looking flames decorated around his normally electric blue eyes, which were currently a startling poison green with horizontal slits, much like you would find in a goat or sheep. His skin was also an unnatural dusky bronze, which set off the crimson velvet suit he was wearing rather flatteringly somehow. Honestly, it may have been the confidence he wore it that made it work more than anything.

Luke, decked out in a similar outfit of mine, only in a gradient of blues, stood next to his best friend. His long blond hair was currently a shocking mix of silver and cerulean and unlike my wild waves, his was styled in gentle curls. His skin also had a pearlescent sheen, though his had aqua undertones, and he also sported the faery pointed ears. However, when he glanced our way, I was startled to see only black orbs staring back. He must have seen my shock, because he gave me a wicked grin which highlighted all the sharp teeth he was now sporting.

North was leaning against the wall, decked out from head to toe in black leather and looking more intimidating than normal. Silas, who was sitting next to him was wearing dark torn jeans, a simple white t-shirt, and a cut-off jean jacket. Both of the guys were supposed to be werewolves, so their hair was rather wild and they both had about a days growth of hair on their faces, given them a feral, rugged look. Otherwise, their appearances were relatively normal, except for the golden yellow contacts they were both sporting. The others were helping with the incoming gaggle of children, but I was excited to see how their costumes had turned out as well.

The large room was set up into several tables, each decked out with various Underworlder "artifacts" and goods. I gave up asking Gabriel weeks ago to explain any of the various items set up, which ranged from the adorable to the incredibly disturbing looking. I'm pretty sure that the fingers, eyeballs, and skulls were all fake, at least I hoped they were.. An eclectic mixture of Victorian English and modern furniture, portraits, decorations, and styles dotted the entire room, some with mixtures that Gabriel and the others had called "Steampunk", whatever that is.

A large crystal chandelier cast a warm light throughout the room and large gold and black silk sheets covered the walls. Fairy lights were strewn through out the room, adding an extra charm to the mix, while animatronic statues dotted the hall. Most were built to mimic men and women, but there were some designed to look like various animals as well. North insisted that they were a key part of The Infernal Devices series, which I had not read, so I just shrugged my shoulders and admired the artistry and detail behind them.

"There you are! Doc, get you sparkly ass over here! The kids are supposed to be here in five minutes and I haven't finished up the last details of your outfit."

At this I was directed/yanked to stand before Gabriel who was giving me a critical stare down as he circled around me. Poking and adjusting as he went, he seemed rather pleased with himself, so he must have approved over all. Standing back with a small nod, he started grinning at me, which was quickly aborted when he caught sight off Owen. Horror instantly filled his face and his hands started flailing around as he screamed in abhorrence.

"Oh my fucking God, Mr. Blackbourne! You have fucking glitter EVERYWHERE! What the...how'd the hell...I mean, honestly, what the actual fuck?! Doc, this is not fucking cool, at all! I only have five fucking minutes! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"

Sharing a smirk with Luke as Gabriel called over a number of the makeup artists armed with lint rollers and tape, I had to control a wince when I caught glimpse of his liquid black eyes once more. Damn was that freaky looking! They swarmed a disgruntled looking Owen who proceeded to send me an aggravated look every once in a while. By the time they all stepped away, efficient little buggers that they were, Owen appeared completely glitter free. That was, at least until he moved and a few stragglers reflected in the light. I tell you, that shit is immortal!

All of a sudden, a chorus of dings echoed through the room and we all pulled out our phones. As I suspected, the little monsters were here and it was showtime!. North and Silas made their ways over and we proceeded to the foyer. Just as we got situated, Nathan and Victor simultaneously opened the doors and in walked the birthday boy himself. Little Jaimie Ayers was situated on his older brother's back, his cherubic face alight with awe. Watching Seth and Jaimie's eyes, green and gold respectively, light up in wonder as they entered the building sent a curl of pleasure in my gut.

It never ceased to make me overjoyed to see the two Ayer brothers happy and whole. A giggling Sang trotted in after the two young boys and as soon as she was abreast with them, Jaimie hopped down and gave her a small hug. Seth, in turn, took the hand of the young girl who had popped up by his side, the adorable miss Aisling, his little girlie. A group of about fifteen other children, all roughly Seth's age, walked in and stared around the foyer in surprise. A few caught sight of us before they dissolved into whispers and giggles.

Carol and Tom Richardson, adopted parents of the Ayers boys and probably two of the coolest people on the planet, walked into the room last. Like Nathan, the were decked out in black Shadowhunter gear that Gabriel had designed, fake swords at their hips and black runes decorating their arms and chest. Carol had her curly, auburn hair up in a french braid and a gold looking whip wrapped around her hips.

Nathan and Tom also sported a variety of knives in holsters up and down their legs.

Victor and Kota, playing our resident vampires for the night, had pale, almost translucent looking skin with purple-black bruises around their eyes. Victor was dressed in a modern, light gray business suit, all clean lines and sophistication, with black undershirt and a silver tie. His hair was perfectly slicked back and his black shoes were so polished, they caught the light at every movement. Kota, on the other hand, was dressed in an outfit similar to Owens, though his waist coat was a gold and scarlet brocade, his breeches were a butter yellow, his shirt and cravat a bright white, and his over coat a dark emerald green. His high boots and gloves were a matching warm, rich mahogany leather and he lacked his usual glasses.

I had noticed all this detail in a matter of seconds and by that time, Seth and Jaimie had also caught sight of us. With barely contained excitement, both boys dragged Sang behind them before they stopped right in front of us. Jaimie was so excited, he was practically hyperventilating while Seth looked from one familiar face to the next, beaming all the while. Sang, all pink cheeks and smiles seems just as enthralled as the little kids, so I shot her a quick wink which resulted in a few precious snorts of amusement before she winked back.

Once everyone gathered in front of us, Owen took charge as he normally did. Stepping forward, authority and command in every line of his frame, every eye turned to face him expectantly.

"Good afternoon, one an all. I am Master Blackbourne, High Warlock of Charleston. Before we continue with the festivities of the day, you will find a series of black cloth bags with your names on them. After you have claimed your bag, you will walk into the adjoining rooms to change into your new gear. There will be people there to help out should you need any. Once you have completed this task, we will meet here once more."

At Owen's proclamation, all the kids looked around excitedly, quickly located the bags, and as a group rushed over. Sang, who was not yet dressed up, was dragged along behind an ecstatic Jaimie. Seth and Aisling followed behind at a slightly more sedate pace, but quickly joined the fray as the kids found their individual bags. Shouts of happiness and squeals of joy echoed through the room as each kid looked into the bags and saw their various costumes for the first time. Within a few short moments, the girls and boys split up to go to their various changing rooms in a rush of chaotic scrambling, giggles, and laughter.

"Jesus, this is going to be a long day, I can already tell," North groused from his position against the wall.

Silas snorted in response to North's grumbling. "Whatever, don't pretend you're in a bad mood. Your gruff, tough man card went out the window ages ago. Those little boys have you totally wrapped around their little pinkies."

North glared back in response and I had to pipe in, of course. "Oh, North is totally whipped. Completely whipped, even. Last night, I watched him lug Jaimie around on his shoulders for two hours straight pretending to be a horse."

Everyone burst out in laughter at my response, earning me a black glare and a certain one finger salute from North. Grinning, I sidled up to him and clapped him hard on the shoulder before stepping out of his reach within seconds. "No need to be ashamed, North, we're all in the same boat."

It only took a few seconds for Gabriel to pop in with an indignant squawked out "Doc! You got fucking glitter on his black shirt!"

Smirking to myself with sense of accomplishment, I took my place next to a disproving Owen once more. His glare promised swift and violent retribution if I so much as looked at him wrong, but the odd sparkle or two on his face left me rather satisfied. Two down, four to go.

About this time, the kids started trickling in and gathering in front of us once more. I had to hand it to Gabriel, the guy was a talented son of a bitch. Each costume was meticulously designed and somehow, each piece was different than the last. Some kids were dressed in the tattered rags of the werewolves, some dressed in modern gear and others of the workers garb of 19th century London. Other kids, mostly girls, were dressed up in flowing, colorful dresses that marked them as faeries. Some were dressed in Shadowhunter black, while others still wore garb from every century you could think of, marking them as the vampires or warlocks for the day.

Sang was dressed up in Shadowhunter black, with wide flowing pants and shirt that somehow accentuated her sexy little body. Feeling a little hot under the collar suddenly, I could only be thankful for my thick body paint once more or my growing blush would be very obvious. Seth and Jaimie looked adorable and like proper little English lords in their 19th century garb, top hats and all and I'm pretty sure we all just melted as they stood in front of us.

Once more, Owen stepped forward and directed the children into the main room, which set of another round of blatant staring and awe. Within a few short minutes, the kids were then directed to the small army of make-up artists that we had commissioned and the next hour was spent getting the children fully into character. It was amazing to watch the children and Sang transform under the skillful hands of the artists from normal, bright eyed and bushy-tailed kids to various Underworlders and Shadowhunters.

The children seemed rather hyped up as they compared their various new features and some mini debates broke out as they ribbed one another about who was better than the other. I focused on Seth, who was debating with a tall, curly-haired blond boy named Aiden, if I remembered correctly. Recently, the skinny, almost shy child had been a greater presence in Seth's life and the two children seemed to be on a fast track to being best friends.

Seth was pointing at the black runes that now decorated his neck and arms, arguing that of course, Shadowhunters were totally awesome fighters. Aiden, who now sported claws and dragon-like hands, was quick to point out that warlocks were able to use magic, which instantly made them stronger than the average Shadowhunter. He also pointed out that Shadowhunters constantly depended on warlocks to perform various tasks. Laughing at his sound reasoning and Seth's stumped features, I made my way forward to join their little group.

"I'm afraid your friend has got you beat, my dear Seth! But alas, you are both far inferior to the grandeur and splendor that is my existence."

Seth, knowing I was just being obnoxious, wrinkled his nose at me and shook his head in false dismay. Aiden, however, was staring at me in something akin to horror as he looed up at me. Maybe it was the electric purple hair, or the lavender skin, or the searing-orange eyes, or hell, maybe it was the gallon of glitter I was currently swimming in, but something about my appearance seemed to unnerve the kid. Grinning in response, I sent him a small wink, which somehow didn't seem to reassure him all that much.

"Dr. Sean, wow, you look very...purple? Sparkly?"

Grinning smugly down at the sass in Seth's voice, I reached forward and roughed up his hair before he could stop me. He cried out in real dismay this time as glitter settled down his front doublet and in his soft black curls. Aiden snorted, smashing one hand against his mouth as if suddenly desperate to hold his laughter in.

"Now, now, laddie, no need to be jealous of my magnificent, shiny self. If you wanted to be sparkly too, you just needed to ask."

A chorus of giggles sounded behind me, two of which I was immensely familiar with. Whipping around, I was happy to find a gleeful Jaimie and Sang standing next to a very amused Aisling. Seth's cheeks flared brighter red at the sight of his brother, older sister figure, and girlfriend as he frantically attempted to shake the glitter off. Jaimie, unperturbed in that wonderful way that small children were, run right up to me and hugged my leather encased legs.

Lifting his chubby little face, his fine, fluffy black curls falling away from his face, he beamed up at me, melting my heart in an instant as he always did. "Me next Dr. Sean, me next! Please! I want to be sparkly like you and Seth too!. Puuhlease?"

"Oh, but of course, my dear little lordling, anything for you!" Reaching down, I picked up the small child and swung him up with a squeal of delight. He hugged me nice and tight before giving him a small peck on the cheek, which only sent Jaimie into a fit of giggles. Sang giggled from the side before stepping forward with a little glint in her eyes.

"Me next, Dr. Sean, me next! Now it's my turn, puhlease?"

"Anytime, Pookie, anytime!"

Smirking at her teasing plea, I shared a small look with Jaimie, before we both swooped down on her, tickling and giggling as she squealed in our embrace. Planting a final, resounding smack of a kiss to the top of her head, while Jaimie planted one on her rune encased cheek, I stepped out of the way to assess the damage. Glitter dominated the entire front of her black clothes, her braid, her cheeks, and her arms were practically doused in the stuff. Giving Jaimie a high five, I set the little boy down and had to bite a grin at how entirely glitter encased he was as well.

Aisling, dressed as a beautiful and fierce faery women in all white, spoke up from the side, glaring at her now sheepish looking boyfriend and his friend. "What's wrong with having glitter on, huh? Look, Dr. Green, Luke, and Gabriel don't seem to mind! And now Jaimie seems just fine!"

Seth, looking like he knew exactly what kind of landmine he was toeing at the moment, did the smart thing and conceded defeat in a moment. "Nothing, Aisling! Nothing's wrong with glitter, I just wasn't expecting it! You look very lovely by the way as a faery."

Instantly mollified, Aisling blushed prettily before giving Seth a small peck on the cheek. As Seth blushed, Sang and Jaimie laughed while Aiden looked right at me and pretended to stick a finger down his throat as he gagged. Laughing outright at the kid's antics, I ruffled his head too, spreading more of the glitter love, despite his responding glare.

Seeing Owen signal me over, I departed the small group with a wave. As I passed a talking Nathan and Victor on my way across the room, I swiped my arms across both of their backs, ignoring their indignant yells as I passed on. Four down, two to go.

"Must you make an absolute menace of yourself, Sean?" Owen asked drily as I sauntered up to him.

Grinning in response, I shrugged my shoulders once. "I have to share the love, my friend. I mean, if I have to find glitter in unnameable places for the foreseeable future, so do you all. Misery loves company and all that!"

"You do realize that Gabriel is going to murder you when he finds everyone encased in glitter, don't you?"

"Totally worth it, I feel."

Shaking his head once more, Owen called everyone to attention as the last child finished up and he announced the next course of action, a scavenger hunt. The boys had carefully helped Gabriel craft and hide a series of TMI and TID related items throughout the building, including all three Mortal Instruments, the Herondale knife, the Lightwood, Blackthorn, Herondale, Carstairs, and Morgenstern family rings, the Lightwood family jewel, the Shadowhunter Codex, the Dark Shadowhunter cup, and the clockwork angel. Being separated into girls versus boys, at the children;s request, the little monsters took off under the leadership of Tom and Carol. Each team lead was armed with a camera and a list.

.

Much to the dismay of Jaimie and Seth, Aisling had dragged Sang off with their team, who only waved at them as she was dragged away. All the little girls seemed helplessly enamored with our little Pookie, and why wouldn't they be? She was extra sweet, hopelessly nice, even more hopelessly shy, and pretty as all get out. At Jaimie's exaggerated pout, North swooped in and said he would help out the boys. I'm telling you, that boy is whipped.

Once they all faded out of sight, I wasn't prepared for the sudden punch to my shoulder. Turning to face my attacker as I rubbed at my now sore arm, I pouted at a glaring Gabriel.

"Jesus, Doc, what the actual fuck did you do to Trouble? And the fucking kids! I knew I should have never fucking entrusted you with something like glitter. You're a fucking menace with it, getting that shit everywhere!"

"Sorry, not sorry?" I asked back as I shrugged my shoulders, grinning at the fierce glare being sent my way. And just to be a little shit, because I could, I turned around and lunged between Kota and Silas, who were standing conveniently side by side. Wrapping my arms around their necks as they absorbed my weight with a strangled omph, I made sure to pass along the gift that just keeps giving.

"Doc! You are such a fucking pain in the ass!"

That was the only warning I got before I had a thoroughly pissed off Gabriel charging after me. The next ten minutes were spent avoiding his advances while the others watched. My fleeing victory was short cut when a grinning Luke, the traitor, tripped me up and I fell to the floor in a tumble. Gabriel proceeded to sit on me and berate me on being "a nutsack little shit" to everybody.

Laughing despite myself, I accepted his ire and after a few moments, Gabriel got up with a sour expression. I may or may not have suppressed a hysterical bout of giggles when I noticed the now prominent amounts of glitter that covered his ass. Snorts of laughter echoed throughout the room, proving that I wasn't the only one who had noticed.

Ignoring us all, Owen directed us to help the makeup artists pack up as we waited for the children to return and the next hour passed in a relatively quick manner. We were just wrapping up the task when a loud commotion at the door caught our attention and suddenly Seth and Aisling were racing into the room, a mass of giggling and squealing children pouring in after them. I caught sight of Sang and North being dragged along before the two forerunners reached for Owen at the same time. Owen caught the two camera's that were practically thrown his way as the two children skidded to a stop.

Laughing and practically falling over as they attempted to gather their breath, the birthday boy and his girlie teased and taunted one another as Owen proceeded to look through the two cameras. The rest of the children waited with baited breath for Owen to declare a winner. Owen did not seem to be particularly rushed and indeed, appeared to be taking his sweet time to drag this all out, judging by the almost invisible smirk he was currently wearing.

Just as Jaimie was practically dancing from foot to foot in his excitement, Owen called a complete draw and with good-natured groans, the children split the winnings, gourmet candies and small toys. It was at this point that Carol and Tom directed the group to the reason we had selected this building to host the party. Walking into a large room, Seth gave a yell of excitement as he realized what he was seeing. Recently, Seth had become awfully fascinated with the sport known as parkour. As such, Kota and Victor had recommended we rent out a parkour park for part of his eleventh birthday.

A team of professionals were there waiting to instruct the kids on basic parkour techniques, which Seth and his friend Aiden just ate right up. Pretty soon, kids were trying basic tumbles and falls. For those not entirely enthused by the parkour, a few of the professionals instructed them on some trampoline tricks which somehow dissolved into a game of tag. Going along with it, the head of the parkour team called a game of trampoline dodgeball, which was met with enthusiastic cheers.

The teams were evenly split up, including all of us adults, and I found myself a frequent target for some reason. Maybe it was the electric purple hair, or the lavender skin, or the searing-orange eyes, or hell, maybe it was the gallon of glitter I was currently swimming in, but something about my appearance seemed to scream "HIT ME!" to the opposing team. It didn't help any that Owen, Gabriel, and North were all against me currently.

Sang was on my side, along with Seth, Luke, Tom, Nathan, and Kota and we gave as good as we got in the most intense game of my life. By the end of the game, it was somehow Owen versus myself as the last of our respective teams and Owen seemed inclined to repay me for my glitter bombing him earlier. The kids cheered loudly on the sides of the trampolines and our team kept taunting and jeering at us. Well, mostly at me, but whatever. Details aren't important.

You would think Owen's tight clothes would restrict his movements somehow, but he was quickly proving that assumption wrong. In a movement that looked like something out of a movie, he avoided one of my balls while simultaneous sending two my way. I managed to avoid the first with an inch or two to spare, but the last ball hit me soundly in the chest.

Accepting defeat, I comically pretended to be mortally wounded, grabbing at my chest. Boos and cheers erupted at Owen's winning hit, which soon erupted into laughter as I playing dropped like a stone, bouncing a few times on the trampoline and then playing dead. The slight movement of a little body running on the trampoline could be felt and I resisted the urge to grin as little finger poked at my face.

"Dr. Sean? Psst, Dr, Sean?"

Fighting the urge to laugh, I hissed an answer out of the corner of my mouth. "Shh, Jaimie boy, can't you see I'm dead?"

At this, he giggled then proceeded to jump on top of me. "Wake up, faery Sean, wake up! We're about to have dinner, then it's cake and ice cream and Seth's presents!"

Laughing outright, I lurched up and snatched the little boy before throwing him over my shoulders. "Well what are we waiting for then, Jamie, my lad? There is sweet deliciousness awaiting us!"

Seth's grinning face caught my attention and before he even knew what hit him, I swept him up with my other hand and set him over my shoulder with a startled yelp. Squirming in protest, the giggling duo beat at my back and I just ignored them as we led the gaggle of children back into the main hall.

As planned, the entire room had been transformed to resemble something out of Cassandra Clare's head. More animatronics lined the room, some small enough to fit on the tables and they were all now moving. A giant angel, all fierce copper, golds, reds, and blinding whites hung over the tables, its gigantic wings spreading the width of the room. Thousands of candles now cast a warm glow and soft music played from hidden speakers.

The tables were now lined with copious dishes that the catering company had made for dinner, all representing Seth's favorite foods. Name cards, each attached with individualized steles indicated who should sit where. Jaimie, naturally, sat right next to Seth and was the very first to figure out that the stele's was electronic and light up in various colors when a small button was pushed, much to his delight.

I found myself sitting between two twin girls during dinner, who were currently staring at me like I was a unicorn or something as they ate their food. One of the twins was a vampire, while the other was a werewolf, which I secretly found funny and I couldn't resist asking a question that popped into my head. Turning to face the vampire girl, I made sure to keep my face neutral.

"So, I have to ask, are you team Jacob or team Edward?" Both girls startled, as if they weren't expecting me to say anything to them. After a moment, they dissolved into giggles and as I suspecting, the vampire girl, or Tammy, was pro-Edward and her sister, Tara, was pro-Jacob.

I instantly regretted saying anything as the then proceeded to launch into a vigorous Twi-hard fandom gush and I was soon wishing I could bang my head against the table. No, I did not think either Edward or Jacob were, like, total dreamboats. No, I did not think it was romantic for Bella to "pine" for Edward. She hallucinated him when she was in danger, so she intentionally put herself in danger? Pretty sure that makes her insane by anybodies definition. And what in the hell was a Reneesmée?

The boy across from me, dressed up as a warlock with one curling horn and green skin kept sending me pitying glances as the torture continued. When Kota came over to ask me to help out with bringing out the birthday cake, I popped up faster than I though I was capable of. The twins sent me mournful glances as I excused myself in a rush and I all but dragged Kota after me.

"Something the matter, Dr. Green?" Kota asked me, completely bemused as we popped into the kitchen.

"Kota, preteen girls are terrifying, terrifying beings," was the only response I could him as I marched up to the cake, where Silas and Victor were currently lighting it.

The cake was split between three tiers and on the very top tier was a small replica of the Blackfriar's bridge, one of Seth's favorite scenes from TID apparently, and it had a mini William Herondale, James, Carstairs, and Tessa Gray on top of it. Being Seth's favorite characters. They were holding a banner between them that read in big gold lettering "HAPPIEST". The next tier down had a small figure of Jace Wayland and Clary Fray, who were holding another banner which read "11TH BIRTHDAY".

The last tier held a young Emma Carstairs and Julien Blackthorn which displayed the last banner with the large proclamation of "SETH RICHARDSON". I paused a moment at the last name, realizing the full implication. Jaimie had instantly taken to the Richardsons almost a year ago and had started identifying as both Jaimie Ayers and Richardson interchangeably since. Seth, on the other hand, had taken much longer to fully accept them in his life, and to see it on the cake spoke a lot to the growth the Richarson family has undergone together.

Spinning around to grab one of the corners, I was amused to see a large number of TMI and TID characters around each tier. Demons, angels, faeries, werewolves, vampires, and warlocks were interspersed with Isabelle and Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane, Simon Lewis, Ragnor Fell, Camille Belcourt, Nathan Grey, Jessamine Lovelace, Charlotte and Henry Branwell and many more. There were even members of the Silent Brothers and the Iron Sisters represented.

Victor suddenly spoke up, his voice reflective and so tender. "I can't believe it's almost been a year since the kids entered our lives."

Silas chuckled, a grin stretching his wide mouth. "It really has been almost a year, hasn't it? It feels like it has been ages. It's weird to think of a time before them, the little spitfires."

Kota gave a gentle smirk as he reached for one of the cake stands corners. "They've grown so much in all this time too. Pretty soon, Seth will be almost as tall as me."

"Well, it seems to me that we will have plenty of time to spoil the little monsters rotten, but let's wrap up today's session with a banh, eh?"

With nods and grins of assent to my question, we all took our places and as one lifted the heavy cake. As soon as we hit the main room, it was to find the kids chatting amiably at the tables as the caterers finished clearing the tables. Without further prompting, I started belting out Happy Birthday at the top of my lungs, gaining the attention of the entire room in seconds and they all joined in in short order. The look of pure awe that lit up Seth's eyes as we lowered the cake in front of him choked me up a bit, but when he glanced up at me, I winked right back.

Instead of blowing it out immediately, as most children do, he took his time to take it all in. After a moment or two and with the start of a suspicious gleam to his emerald orbs, he closed his eyes, mouthed a wish, then blew out each candle in one fell swoop. We all clapped and cheered as he grinned at us all and then we were passing out slices of the chocolate cake with raspberry filling and chocolate ganache icing with a side of mint chocolate-chip ice cream to the masses.

The children made short work of the sweet treats and with a cheer, Seth was situated in the middle of the room with his birthday presents. He received a number of toys, games, movies, and books from his friends, though Aiden's gift nearly made him cry. The boy, whom I suspected was not from a very wealthy family based off of his second hand clothing and possessions, had painted Seth an amazingly realistic portrait of Seth and Jaimie with their adoptive parents.

The detail was exquisite and Seth stared at the painting for a few minutes as he fought to control himself. He gave his best friend a strong hug and thanked him profusely, which only made the shy boy blush and fidget. Aisling had made him a scrap book which contained many photos of our family with the two brothers, their adoptive parents, and of course, Seth and Aisling himself.

Owen and my gift to Seth was a Nintendo DS 4, complete with a small handful of games, including Animal Crossing so he could play with Sang and the others. North got him a $100 amazon gift card so he could fill their kindle with tons of new book series. Victor gave him an acoustic guitar, which Gabriel quickly informed he would be teaching him to use. Kota bought Seth an advanced physics science kit that was full of the materials needed to complete a plethora of experiments which appealed to the young boys curious mind.

Nathan had bought him a large, fancy fire pit which our team had already set up in the Richardson's back yard earlier that day. Silas, Gabe, and Luke had pooled their funds together to buy Seth and Jaimie a years pass at the closest parkour park, complete with personal lessons and training, much to the pure delight of the two brothers. Sang and Jaimie had worked together to make Seth a matching clock locket to the one she and Seth had made for Jaimie's sixth birthday. This one ran backwards as well and it held one of the few happy pictures of the two boys with their mother that they had. A stray tear did leak out at this gift and he quickly gave Sang and Jaimie a tight hug in gratitude.

It was as he was graciously thanking everyone for his new gifts that Carol's sweet voice broke through the fray. "Now, sugar, you can't be forgetting our present, now can you?"

At this, the sea of kids parted and there stood Tom and Carol, both smiling so wide and looking so pleased as the presented Seth with their present. In between then sat a silver white puppy, a negative image of Jaimie's Sevvie in nearly every way. Stunned, Seth approached the calm pup, who turned to regard the approaching boy with deep set, wise silver eyes. Holding out his hand to the beautiful animal, who sniffed it lightly before licking at his fingers, Seth released a small bubbling laugh.

Looking up at his parents, something like disbelief and amazement on his handsome face, he smiled. "Is he mine? Really?"

Carol nodded enthusiastically as Tom leaned forward and affectionately ruffled his son's curls while handing over the small gray leash. "Yes, my boy, he's all yours. Jaimie was the one who picked him out though. He said that this one was perfect for you."

Jaimie popped up next to his older brother, grinning shyly as Seth turned to stare at him in amazement.

"It's only fair you get a Sevvie too Seth, only you know, not Sevvie of course, and this puppy was so pretty and so calm, like you are, and he's super smart, like you are, and he just seemed perfect for you anddoyoulikehim?"

Fortunately, Seth was quite skilled at Jaimiese and seemed to be able to understand exactly what his brother was saying as he gave his little brother and then both of his parents a tight hug. "Are you kidding me Jaimie, I LOVE him!"

The rest of the children descended on the new pup, who Seth quickly named Jem after his favorite character, saying his personality and coloring were perfectly matched. As Sang joined in on the fray, the rest of us hung back and just watched the joyful scene, completely content. Tom's cell suddenly rang out, and with a quick nod, he excused himself to go answer it. The puppy had been tottering around the room, the whole gaggle of children following behind him when I felt small hands latch around my leg.

As expected, Jaimie's golden gaze met mine and he leaned into me with a grin. Bending over, I picked up the growing but still small child. The others around us turned to focus on the small boy as well as he pressed his chubby check to mine in a hug. Resting his precious head on my shoulder, he looked out at the others a moment before a large grin split his face.

"Thank you everyone for making Seth's birthday a true extravaganza! It was so fun and I know Seth had a great time."

Luke leaned in to grin at the content child, tickling him as he showed off his scary teeth. "Any time, little Jaimie. I can't wait until you and Seth are little ninjas like me."

Jaimie giggled at Luke's administrations and the rest of us were quick to assure the little kid that it was our honest pleasure. Nathan carefully took Jaimie from my arms before he twirled the shrieking kid in circles, tickling him all the while. "What do you say, Jaimie?" Nathan taunted before the answering cry of "Uncle, uncle!" was heard.

North, being his overprotective self, swooped in next and rescued the dizzy, breathless child with a glare. It was also more than a little hilarious that Jaimie was spreading more and more glitter as he was passed from person to person. Setting Jaimie down and steadying him when he swayed unsteadily for a second, North patiently waited for the boy to stand up straight on his own. Tottering a little as he regained his equilibrium, the energetic boy next latched onto Owen's leg, who indulgently allowed the action and patted the fluffy, downy curls. I was just admiring the scene of our happy team with the ever playful Jaimie Ayer when Tom's voice popped up from behind us.

"Owen, Sean, can I talk to you please? Outside?"

Something in Tom's tone instantly set my teeth on edge and Owen and I shared a quick, confused glance. Shrugging my shoulder at the others, who looked on in bewilderment, I started following after the quiet and now pale man. As soon as we had walked into the abandoned foyer, Tom whirled around and faced us head on.

Wild fear and anguish danced around in his dark gaze, instantly setting my stomach churning and my nerves on edge. Something horrible had happened and it had Tom Richardson terrified. Before I could voice the questions racing through my thoughts, he beat me to the punch.

"Last night, or rather, early this morning, Dr. Adam Ayers escaped Autryville Mental Health Clinic after brutally slaughtering and dismembering 17 members of the night crew. He left a note addressed to you both and the contents imply...Well the contents imply that he will be gunning for you both. Police will be in contact soon, Mr. Bath said."

I felt as if I had just been doused in a huge vat of ice water. Goosebumps broke out over my skin as my stomach threatened to empty its contents. Suddenly, my hands were trembling violently as the full horror of what Tom had said washed over me. That fucking bastard was out. That fucking bastard who almost destroyed my family and hurt my team was out. That monster who had almost killed his own kids, now more precious to me than I could even say, was out and on the loose. And he was coming for us.

A little gasp from behind me instantly sent all three of us turning to face the source of the sound and my stomach instantly dropped to the very soles of my feet. Both Seth and Jaimie were standing there, because of course they were, and were staring at us all in complete and utter horror. Jaimie was the one who had made the sound and as we watched, his breathing began to rapidly speed up, little hiccuping sobs gaining momentum very rapidly.

Seth was looking at Owen, a look of something like accusation in his vibrant eyes as he began shaking his head in denial. "He's out? Sir is out? How? You said he would never hurt us again! You said we were safe, Mr. Blackbourne, you said!"

At this point, Jaimie broke down into screaming sobs and Seth was not far behind him as they latched onto one another. Completely stunned, I was suddenly at a loss of what to do. North charged out of the main room, the rest of the team and Carol right behind him as he reacted to the hysterical and fearful sound of the two young children's wails. Carol instantly ran to her deeply distraught children and she wrapped them in a tight embrace.

Sang joined her within seconds and the two confused but maternal women did their best to sooth the sobbing brothers. Our team, frustrated and confused, turned to face us for an explanation and I quickly realized that the birthday guests were still waiting for their parents to pick them up. Unsure of what to say and feeling as if my world was crumbling around us, I helplessly stared back at the others, feeling suddenly twenty years older.

Seth's teary, almost fever bright eyes were still locked on Owen's and his voice, both plaintive and betrayed rang out through the tense silence.

"You said, Mr. Blackbourne. You said!" he wailed out and all Owen could do was take it, though he flinched at each accusing plea.

"I'm sorry Seth, apparently I lied," was Owen's strained response, and something in Seth Ayer, now Richardson's golden eyes broke.

The shattering of safety and hope echoed in my head and snapped me out of my numb horror. With a bellow of rage, that jolted all present, I swung around and punched the wall with all my helpless anguish. As a bone in my hand snapped and pain cleared my head, I vowed then and there. You will be safe, Seth, and that fucking monster will never touch either of you again.

If only I wasn't a liar either.


	3. 3 Fracta aves volare non

AN: Alrighty chickadees, here's part 3 of Lusorium. The title for this one is Broken Birds Don't Fly, so I hope you enjoy the first look into Dr. Sir's head. :D Please, please leave me a review to let me know how you are liking/disliking it so far. It goes a long way to helping me improve my writing and meeting your expectations. As always, all Academy related characters belong to the one and only CL Stone. All OC's are mine.

Lusorium 3: Fracta aves volare non

Whistling quietly to myself as I scrubbed my hands under the hot spray of the faucet, I carefully lathered up my hands and upper arms. The familiarity of the action soothed me, as did the angelic voices rising and falling around me as the Lakme Flower duet played. Opera had a way of lulling me into a peaceful state and brought up memories from my childhood. Of my mother who would play the music everyday as she went about her daily affairs.

My childhood had been a rather dull affair, truly. I was a child of a family of four, one mother, dead father, one younger brother, and one older sister. I learned rather quickly that I was not like my siblings. That I did not see the world like they did, like I was supposed to. I remember the day that stuck out in my memory as the first moment I realized this fact. I was probably three at the time and had been playing with a truck that had been my favorite at the time.

My older sister, two years my senior, was playing quietly in the yard with some doll or other, which suited me just fine. My younger brother was about 9 months at the time and was a rather noisy nuisance, in my opinion. He smelled bad, was constantly getting into my things, and he was incredibly boring to watch. Mother had brought him outside to "get some fresh air" as she put it and to my annoyance, placed him right next to me. She set down a set of blocks for him and I did my best to ignore him as I played with my own truck.

I was able to tune out his ridiculous noises for the most part, but then he got bored and latch his dirty, grubby fingers on my truck. I was instantly enraged and tried to yank the truck out of his filthy hands, but he was surprisingly strong and would not let go. In my rage, I picked up one of his blocks and threw it at him. It hit his forehead with a resounding smack and his stupid little eyes opened so comically wide, I giggled a little. Within a few seconds, he released my toy like I wanted but then he opened his mouth and started screaming as a small rivers of bright red started painting his stupid face.

Scrunching my face up in displeasure, I put my hands to my ears to try to block out his pathetic wailing and then mother was there, sweeping up the little monster, asking what happened. Calmly, I explained the whole matter, expecting mother to tell the baby to stay out of my things and to be quiet. To my surprise, mother soundly scolded me and made me apologize. She punished me for hurting my brother and told me how sorry I should be for harming my own baby brother that way. But I wasn't sorry, not in the slightest.

It wasn't my fault the little beast didn't know how to stay out of my way and to not touch my stuff. I still remember the look of disturbed amazement on my mother and sister's faces when I told her just that. It took me another few months to learn that other people reacted and felt differently than I did. That my thoughts were not normal. So I began to lie, getting better at it everyday. I learned to say and do what was necessary to stop those horrified looks and disturbed glances.

I also learned that the better I lied and hid my true self, the easier it was to get my way. It didn't take very long to realize that most people are incredibly stupid and blinded by such trivial things as 'sentimentality' and 'emotions'. Their irrational behavior never ceased to both frustrate and amaze me. I was not burdened by such things, so it was always easy to manipulate others for my own purposes. It became a game of sorts for me, one of my favorites growing up.

Very early on, I found that I was fascinated with how things worked. It started off with toys and machines and spent hundreds of hours pulling things apart to look at their inner workings. I was like a surgeon for machines, I thought to myself with some pride, as I bore the gears and wires to daylight. After awhile, boredom begun to set in as it often did and I begun to get frustrated. I found my curiosity turn to a new venue by a stroke of random happenchance. When I was nine, I was forced to bring my little brother along on the various trips I made into the woods behind our house. One particular day, a glorious day really, I stumble upon a dying bird.

It was a raven as black as night, a color that had always suited me, and it twisted and writhed in the most intriguing way on the floor of the forest, flashing the ruby red of its gaping wound on its side every few seconds. Its frantic motions splashed fat drops of scarlet around the yellow and brown leaves, a tableau of beauty if I ever saw one. My sniveling little brother, who was as obnoxious as ever, begged me to leave with him, that he was scared. I ignored his pleas and told him to run home if he was so terrified. He ran off like the baby he was and I was left alone in peace to watch, transfixed, as the bird stumbled and fell on its heaving side in exhaustion and pain.

Walking forward, I watched as the body slowly stilled and the eyes dulled in death and felt that rush of excitement flow through me once more as my curiosity was peaked. Without hesitation, I picked up the dead bird and felt the warmth drain from the corpse in steady increments. Suddenly desperate to know what it looked like inside, I ran all the way home. I hid the body in the shed and snuck into the back door. My little brother was whining to my mother in the living room, so I quietly tiptoed into the kitchen and grabbed a small paring knife.

Before I could sneak back out to my new toy, my sister walked in and saw me standing there with the knife. I had never been annoyed by my older sister before. In fact, I rather liked her, as far as I liked anyone. She was pretty, quiet, and minded her own business. She tended to stay out of my way and never tattled on me to my mother whenever she caught me doing something 'odd', unlike my beast of a little brother. He was an obnoxious little pest and I detested his presence the most out of everyone in my family.

Instead of commenting on the knife, though curiosity burned in her green eyes, she merely walked to the fridge and pulled out a baggie of carrots and some ranch for dipping. Satisfied she would not bother me, I slipped out of the kitchen and snuck into the shed to play with my new prize. I spent a good five hours that day, playing with the fascinating innards of the bird. I studied all the intricate connections and marveled at the simplistic beauty of it all. I was so engrossed by my play that I didn't notice my sister's presence until I heard a small gasp.

Whirling around, I found her staring at the bloody pile of organs, feathers, and bones that had once been a bird. A thrill rushed through me as I expected her to scream and run to my mother and for a moment, I imagined taking her down to prevent it. However, she surprised me when she only turned to stare at me with sad eyes. She told me that this was not normal, that I shouldn't be doing this and then she helped me clean up the mess and scrubbed my hands clean of all evidence. She never said a single word to mother and I was pleased.

She never said a word after the neighbor's cat went missing and mysteriously showed up in the shed, pieces everywhere. She never said a word through the various birds, squirrels, rabbits, rats, and foxes that showed up. She kept my secret when our new family puppy, a birthday gift for the little beast, met an untimely end, and how did he manage to get into the rat poison under the sink was such a mystery to mother. The beast cried, mother cried, and my dear sister was silent. She never said a word as she helped clean up my messes every time and every time, I was pleased.

It became clear to me that my sister understood. She understood that I was different and that I had different needs and thoughts than 'normal' people and while she always looked at me with wide, sad eyes, she never judged. My sister was loyal to me and she proved herself worthy of my time. My sister collected and cared for a large number of porcelain dolls growing up and as a thank you for her loyalty, I always gifted her with a new one every so often.

Her gem-like eyes would light up and she would give me a special smile that was just for me, a smile that only I ever saw. She would take each doll and meticulously place it in a new place of honor and I would accept her thanks with a gracious nod. Pretty soon, I found myself confiding to my sister about my stray thoughts and urges, about the excitement each kill and subsequent dissection of the animals made me feel. She would tell me how I shouldn't do those things, how they weren't normal at first, but like everything else, she never told anyone else.

My sister was a lonely individual who never had any friends, so it took very little effort on my part manipulate her into depending on me more and more as we grew older. All it took was a few lying words of how much I loved her and how much she meant to me and she was putty in my hands. I thrived on the attention and loved the control I wielded with her. It was rather heady and I found myself beginning to test the level of her loyalty. How far could I go before she cracked and left me?

I had planned a final test, of sorts, for my dear sister one day when I took the brand new kitten she received for her 16th birthday and held it in my shed. I waited anxiously for her to get home that day so I could set my plan in action. I was going to tell her to take its cute little neck and snap it, for me, just to see what she would do. If she refused and ran away, I would know how far her loyalty to me went and take the proper steps to remedy the situation. After all, my sister knew too much to just let her blab to my mother or the stupid beast. If, however, she did as I asked because I asked it, I knew it would open a whole new world for us. I knew she would fully be mine then and she could start playing with me.

I waited all day, getting more and more frustrated as the hours passed. By nightfall, my mother was fretting and the beast was sniveling as he was wont to do. Mother called the police and they told her that they could do nothing until my sister had been missing for 24 hours. By the next evening, two cop cars pulled into my driveway and started asking questions. I acted the part of the concerned younger brother, crocodile tears running down my face and my mother wrapped her arms around me as I pretended to sob. Inside, I was a mess of irritation and ire.

Where in the world had my sister run off to? Had she left me on her own will or had someone taken what was mine? The next two weeks were a rush of people coming in and out of our house, offering pathetic platitudes for my mother and the beast that was my little brother. They would try and comfort me as well, but I did my best to ignore them. In the hullabaloo that was my sister's disappearance, I hid out in the shed to avoid the noise. I was surprised to find that I had forgotten the tiny kitten and its emaciated form lay in the corner of the shed.

Feeling the need for a distraction, I pulled out the set of knives I had carefully stashed in here and began to dissect its pitiful body. I had never looked into a body that had died of starvation before and I was intrigued to note the differences in its inner workings. It was only the sudden wailing of my mother from the house that drew me out of my investigation. I had never heard my mother make such a sound before, so with a quick swiping of my hands on the wet grass, I ran into the house to find out what was happening.

I found my mother and brother collapsed in a pitiful, sobbing heap as the cops tried to comfort them. My sister had been found, it seems. Too bad she was not found alive. My aunt watched over my little brother as I rode with mother to the hospital to identify the remains. Mother forced me to stay in the waiting room as the cops took her back to my sister's corpse. I waited all of 20 seconds before I followed behind. I only needed to following the wailing sobs of my mother to locate the morgue. My mother fainted soon after she identified her daughter's remains and I waited patiently for the hospital staff to wheel her away on a gurney, followed by the police, before I snuck into the morgue myself.

The room was rather chilled with a sweet musty scent that I had come to associate with death. It was not necessarily unpleasant, but I made sure to quickly located my sister's names on the outside tabs. I opened the drawer, feeling my curiosity rise as it smoothly slid out. The dark raven locks of my sister were set in a halo around her dealthy pale face. Her eyelids were closed and sunken in and her lips looked almost blue. A sheet covered up most of her form, but the cut that bisected her slender throat was glaringly obvious to me. I found myself fascinated, despite the circumstances, as I stared into the bloodless wound. I could have stood there for hours, analyzing the every nuance of the cut, but a doctor soon walked in and disrupted my study.

Apparently my sister had been murdered by a transient who had passed through our small town. Somehow she had caught his attention and he had knocked her out before dragging her to a nearby field. He then proceeded to stab her 23 times in the chest and then slit her throat, all within twenty minutes of knocking her out. She wasn't even awake to defend herself, and everyone kept saying that it was a blessing that she didn't feel the pain.

Personally, I was torn on the whole thing. I was enraged at the sloppy nature of the whole affair and at the audacity of the man to take my sister away. She was supposed to be mine to deal with as I see fit, after all, not his. I was also annoyed that my sister had left me without my permission. Admittedly, it was not a choice on her part, but it still irked me. The largest part of me was excited, however. My sisters death had led me to the edge of the last barrier I had set for myself. Animals were no longer satisfying my efforts to stave off boredom and I had found a new interest.

I killed my first person four months later, some nameless women who was wondering through the woods. She wore tattered clothes and was missing a fair amount of her teeth. Her stench, a combination of sweat, human waste, and pure filth, almost turned me off the action, but I persevered. My first kill was embarrassingly sloppy and the lady flopped about the forest floor much like that raven had years ago. The fear and bewilderment in her muddy eyes was intoxicating as they gradually dulled. After the rush of the kill came the realization that I would need to clean up.

Luckily, a small lake lay nearby and after playing around with the corpse a bit, I dragged her to the shore. Using her shoe laces and mine, I tied large rocks to her body and threw her in. Thankfully, the water was deep and murky, so within a few short seconds, the dead woman disappeared from the world and no one was any wiser to it. Feeling more alive than I ever had, I ran home that day only to find my mother packing up. After the death of her firstborn, she could not stand to stay in the same town and demanded that I pack my things.

After the events of the afternoon, I complied without a complaint and by the end of the week, we moved to South Carolina. A handful of years later, a fish was caught with the remains of a human finger in that lake and the cops were called in. They found that body but no leads were ever found and the case was quickly put on the back burner. I remember laughing myself hoarse when I saw the news report in my freshman dormitory. I had literally gotten away with murder and I hadn't even been all that terribly smart in how I had gone about that day.

Since that day, I had grabbed every medical journal I could and begun diving into the burgeoning field of forensics. I studied every famous murder cases I could and learned from the past mistakes of others. By the time of my second kill, at 19, I had polished my skills with a knife and it slid through the girl's throat like butter. I had placed tarps down all over the small shed space and without any distractions, I got to open her up and investigate at my own leisure.

I was smart with each women I took out, because I had quickly learned that I disliked taking out men. The female form was much more aesthetically pleasing to me, both internally and externally, and the scent of fear on a guy was stomach turning. I was careful to dispose of each body in small pieces, spread out over great distances. I also was meticulous about leaving any trace evidence behind. By my first year of medical school, I had over a dozen kills beneath my belt and no one had cottoned onto me yet.

And then I met Eve and my whole world changed. I had been looking at a porcelain doll in an antique store window, thinking about how my sister would have adored it when a women stopped at my side and lightly touched her fingers to the glass in front of the doll herself. Turning to face her, I was struck by a sense of deja vue. Eve Mason was a beautiful women, all wide emerald eyes and wild black curls. She was so similar to my dear sister in looks that I was struck dumb for a moment. What really cinched my attention, however, was the little smile that graced her face as she stared at the doll, eyes bright and face soft.

Forgetting myself, I engaged the beautiful women and we stood and talked on the sidewalk for almost an hour. It quickly became apparent to me that personality-wise, she and my sister differed greatly, but she did not grate on my nerves either, surprisingly. By the end of our conversation, we had exchanged numbers and within a week, we went on our first date. Our courtship was rather fast, but it became clear to me that I was Eve's whole world.

With a dead mother, an estranged father, and no siblings, I became Eve's whole support system and I quickly made work of her budding friendships. Isolation was an amazing tactic when you wanted to control another person. I found myself surprisingly content with the little world I was building with Eve. Between medical school and my time with her, I found my impulses becoming less and less pressing. It was all a rather new experience for me, really.

By the end of our first year together, we were engaged to be married, which thrilled my mother to no end. My brother was ecstatic when I asked him to be my best man, only because it was expected of me and I had no one else to ask. I honestly could care less about who was there otherwise. It was a relatively small ceremony and all I could think after we exchanged vows was that now Eve was mine and she was never leaving me. No one was going to leave me again without my permission.

The next few years passed in a quiet manner and my wife was happy. I was content and medical school kept me busy. By the start of my residency, I begun to notice my wife distancing herself a bit. A little annoyed at her behavior, but busy as I was, I never got the chance to address it properly. Whenever I did broach the topic, she would say she was a little bit lonely in the house all day. Maybe I had isolated her a bit too much? I encouraged her to join a local group that interested her and she started hanging out with some of the young wives and moms that lived in our neighborhood.

With her attitude improved and my work keeping me busy, life seemed to be going perfectly. And then Eve got pregnant and our whole life changed once more. I pretended to be ecstatic, knowing that that was what she wanted me to be. Eve practically glowed, she was so excited about the baby and our lives soon began to revolve around preparation for it to arrive. Despite myself, I found myself giving into her excitement and did whatever she wanted to the nursery as well as built her a rocking chair.

The day she went into labor, I was in the middle of assisting in a major surgery and ended up missing the whole thing. Honestly, it was a bit of a relief, as all the noise would have given me a headache and I would have found myself in a bad mood. By the time I slipped into her hospital room, it was to find her passed out and the little baby wide awake.

A son, I reminded myself. His eyes were a pale green, which was rather unusual for a baby but not unheard of. I hoped they would darken to the color of his mom's eyes as he got older. A surprisingly thick mop of black curls sat on his head and I lightly stroked it, fascinated at the silky feel. Unfathomable eyes stared into mine, all in silence, and I could have sworn he saw into my soul. He saw into me and he understood who I really was and in that moment, it was like staring into my sister's eyes once more.

We named him Seth Elliot Ayers after my long deceased father and my dear sister, whom my mother called Ellie. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that he was a very calm, silent baby. He rarely cried or fussed and I could go about my business at home without any interruption. Eve was beside herself with joy at being a mom and she doted on our new son with great care. Our life fell into a peaceable pattern and I was content. The urges would strike every so often, but I managed to push them down and watched Seth grow into a polite, curious child.

He had the look of his mother and aunt to a tee, but his intellect and insatiable curiosity was all mine and I felt a sense of ownership at the many accomplishments of my young son. Everything was going so well, it seemed, but I had been a fool. I had been blinded by my content and busy lifestyle. I hadn't seen the fox among the chickens until it was too late and my whole world fell down around my ears.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when a clatter of metal on the ground brought me back to the present. I turned off the faucet and reached for a small towel to dry off my long cleaned hands. Turning around slowly, I regarded my current toy with a small burst of humor. She was really a petite thing, all doe-eyed fear and frantically tugging at the restraints that kept her in place.

Strolling forward, making sure to keep my eyes on her the entire time, I bent over to pick up the scalpel she had managed to knock on the ground in her struggles. She was violently trembling at this point and I only set the dirtied instrument on the tray full of my other tools. Habit made me want to sanitize the instrument before use, but then logic trickled in and I chuckled at my own silliness. It's not like the girl was going to have to worry about the risk of infection, now was she?

Picking up the syringe that was already filled with a mild sedative, I firmly grabbed one of her arms. She freaked out, as I expected, but her weakened limbs were helpless against my superior strength and I easily slid the needle into the crook of her elbow. As I depressed the plunger, large fat droplets fell from her leafy green eyes. They weren't the perfect shade, but they were close enough and would have to do for now. Grinning down at her, watching as the sedative started relaxing her muscles bit by bit, I picked up a large suture needle and thread.

"Now my dear, I am terribly sorry for this. You are but a means to an end for me, I'm afraid. It will not be pleasant and it will not be quick, but I guess there is no helping it now."

I quickly ripped off the tape that had muted her cries up to this point, ripping skin and causing small drops of blood to well up. The expectant litany of pleas and cries of fear spewed forth as soon as her mouth was cleared, the drug slowing down and slurring her speech. Ignoring it all, I tightened the strap across her forehead to lock her in place then pinched her lips together with one hand. As the needle passed through her bottom lip and then the top in one smooth motion, my toy started bucking weakly as muffled screams reached my ears.

Pulling the thread through mercilessly, I repeated the motion again and again until her mouth was sealed shut with one row of black sutures. Back-stitching and crossing the first row, I tied off the thread and snipped off the excess. Stepping back, I took a moment to admire the clean row of Xs that stood out prominently amidst a smear of brilliant red. Wiping away the excess blood, I looked up to see how my toy was faring.

Her eyes were glittering with pain and tears streamed down her face to fall into her pretty blond hair. The confusion and silent demand to know why I was doing this prompted me to answer before I went on to the next step of the process.

"Now, now, my dear, none of that. It's my son's birthday after all. What kind of father would I be if I didn't get him a present? I've been gone so long, so it needs to be a big one, you see. Now hold still, I don't want to accidentally stab your pretty little eyes."

And boy did she scream as the needles made the first pass through her eyelid.

_XxXxXxXxXxTransitionXxXxXxXxXxX XxXxXxXxXxTransitionXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX_

I lay in the middle of Seth's large queen size bed, each brother pressed desperately into my side as they softly cried into my chest. Seth and Jaimie were both exhausted at this point, small tremors wracking their frames and the occasional hiccuping sob burst forth. I murmured senseless words of comfort as I stroked their curly heads soothingly. It really didn't matter what I said at this point, there was literally nothing I could say that would make any of this better. What did matter was that I was present and that they could curl into my side and release all their anguish, fear, and tears.

A large, snuffling chuff against my cheek drew my attention to the huge, black form of Sevvie, curled protectively around his young charge and with his head inches from mine. His large golden eyes stared back at mine before they focused on Jaimie once more. Jem was curled up in Seth's arms, his little head resting under Seth's chin and he would occasionally lick at the silent tears cascading down his new owners pale cheeks.

Jaimie's head lay against my chest while Seth's tucked snugly under my own chin. It had been well over an hour since we had made it back to the Richardsons' house from Seth's party. The children had all been freaked out at Seth and Jaimie's emotional break down and it was an honest relief when the last child's parent picked them up. Aisling and Aiden had both wanted to stay, but Carol gently but firmly sent them off, citing a family emergency.

The entire drive back, the two children refused to separate from me and much to the silent suffering of Carol and Tom, refused anyone else's touch. Everyone understood and nobody pushed the children. Sevvie had bounded up to his small charge as soon as we walked in the door and within moments, he knew something was wrong. He butted his large head against Jaimie's side with a whine and without further prompting, the distraught child wrapped one arm around his large neck and hugged him close.

Seth was holding his brand new puppy, who only sniffed down at Sevvie before tucking his sleepy head into the crook of his elbow. Carol suggested I tuck the two in bed while our two families discussed the disturbing turn our night had taken. I gently coaxed the two benumbed children, but found I could not leave them alone. So I had jumped into Seth's bed and tucked the two boys against me and Sevvie quickly wrapped himself in place.

If I was being totally honest with myself, I was absolutely terrified as well. Dr. Sir, the man who had kidnapped me and held me prisoner, who had almost killed me and those I love, was out and doing who knows what. Based off of the little I heard, he was gunning for my family and I was not an idiot to dis-include myself in that number. I remember the mad, possessive glint in his eyes that night my boys saved me. He had screamed that I was his and I will never forget the fear that had curdled my stomach that day.

A slight tremble ran through my body at the chilling memory and the two boys tightened their hold around me in response. The various timbres of the voices of my family and the Richardson's could be heard distantly as they rose and fell, agitation and anger clear. A part of me was curious to know what was going on, but a vast majority didn't want to hear a single thing. If I knew what was going on, it made it too real.

Jaimie was the first one to break the silence, his lovely voice strained and muffled against my chest. "Sang, I'm really scared."

"I know, sweetie, me too," I answered him, seeing no point in false bravado. One of Seth's hands reached across my chest to cup his little brother's cheek.

"It's okay, buddy, I'm scared too."

"But Seth, Sang, he's really going to kill us now! I just know it! He's going to find us and then he's going to hurt Carol and Tom and Mr. B and Dr. Sean and everybody!"

I shivered at the images Jaimie's impassioned cry conjured and I pulled the two children in a little tighter. Sevvie whined a little at the sound of Jaimie's teary voice and he nuzzled the pale boy's chubby cheek before resting his large head lightly on his neck.

"No Jaimie, he won't. I won't let him, you hear me? Neither will the boys. Do you think Mr. Blackbourne or Dr. Sean or any of the others will let Dr. Sir get within five feet of you? And you know there is nothing that would keep Tom or Carol away from you two. They would move heaven and earth to protect you boys."

I may have been terrified but I honestly meant every word I said. There was no way in hell we were ever going to let Dr. Sir touch a single hair on either of the precious boys' heads. I would kill him myself if I needed to. Both boys seemed to calm at the conviction in my voice as I felt them nod in agreement. They knew just as much as I did that Dr. Sir would have to go through all of us to get to them. I also didn't need them to tell me that that was what they were afraid of most. That Dr. Sir would hunt us down and kill us all.

"I need to apologize to Mr. Blackbourne soon. I said some mean things to him that I really don't believe. I know he's not a liar and I'm not mad at him, not really." Seth sounded mournful as he bit his lip anxiously. I kissed him softly on his forehead and ran my fingers softly through his hair.

"He knows Seth, he knows. He's just as worried as any of us are."

We fell into another lull as we silently took comfort in one another's presence. The soft, musical chiming of the Richardsons' doorbell floated up the stairs and the talking from the living room fell silent. I was wondering at who could be here this late at night when Jaimie piped back up.

"Seth, I'm sorry your birthday party ended so horribly. I really wanted you to have a good time."

"Thanks Jaimie, I did have a good time...He did it on purpose, you know," Seth murmured back.

Voices popped up again from the living room, animated and anxious. Intrigued as I was, I decided to focus on Seth instead. "What do you mean, Seth? Who did what on purpose?"

"Sir...he broke out on my birthday on purpose. He always did whatever he could to make my birthday a nightmare, you know, after mommy died. I was hoping that I would never have to think about him ever again. But now here he is, ruining the best day ever, and you all worked so hard on it and I was having the best time, I really was! And then he broke out and who knows where he is and I'm scared for you all and I just know he's laughing at it all."

"Oh Seth...I promise you right now that we will find Dr. Sir and we will end him somehow. I will do whatever is in my power to keep you safe and if it comes to it, I'll take him out myself."

"Pinkie promise?" At his question, Jaimie lifted his little finger and held it aloft. Seth mimicked his brother and I dropped my hands to link each on my pinkie's with theirs.

"I pinkie promise, Jaimie." The first hint of a smile since this whole debacle started dawned across Seth and Jaimie's faces, their identical dimples making an appearance. I kissed them each on their foreheads, my heart felt fit to burst with the love I held for them. They quickly responded with a peck on each of my cheeks and we started finally winding down from the terror of the day.

A soft knock on the door drew our attention and we all sat up when we noticed Carol and Mr. Blackbourne. Something in their faces had me instantly tensed with worry and I unconsciously drew the two boys closer into my side.

"Miss Sorenson, can you please come downstairs with us for a moment?"

At Mr. Blackbourne's neutral tone, I began softly untangling myself from Seth and Jaimie, who had tightened their hold on me at the question. Kissing them each on the crown of their heads once more and promising I would be right back, I started walking away. As I passed Carol, she thanked me silently with her eyes and made her way over to her lost-looking children. She had a mug of hot, spiced milk in each hand, a favorite treat of the two brothers and one that Carol and Tom made whenever Jaimie had a night terror. Knowing they were in the best of hands, I made my way down the stairs.

Following Mr. Blackbourne into the living room, I was instantly concerned at how drawn and pale my boys were looking at this very moment. Tom was staring at me with something akin to fear and I was happy to see that Dr. Sean had made it home already. He had a white cast around his right hand, so he must have broken it like he suspected. What I wasn't expecting were the two unknown men standing in the living room as well.

Based off of the uniforms they were sporting and the events of the day, I could only assume they were the police we had been informed would be stopping by. The younger of the two, a man who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties, noticed my entrance first and gave me a small, tight nod. Clued in, his partner, an older man in his forties, took charge.

"Miss Sorenson, I presume?"

I nodded my head in answer, willing him to explain why my presence was necessary.

"My name is Agent Matherson and this is my partner Agent Gabbin. We're with the FBI and have been called into the case of the break out and murders of Adam Ayers. Miss Sorenson, do you recognize this girl?"

Taking the photo that he was holding out, I glanced at the lovely girl it showed. She was smiling widely in the photo, her light green eyes merry and she looked as if she would start laughing at any moment. Wavy dirty blond hair fell down around her shoulders and I realized with a shock that she looked very similar to me. I shook my head at Agent Matherson's question, but my shock must have been pretty obvious, because Agent Gabbin nodded his head at me and took over the conversation.

"Her name is Teagan Adams, age 18. She was reported missing two days ago and at 8:42 pm this evening, her body was found sitting in the swings at the playground of the local private elementary school, Archibald Rutledge Academy."

I felt the blood run out of my face at the reference to the private school that Seth and Jaimie went to school. Dreading where this was going, I waited for the man to continue, my stomach beginning to churn uncomfortably.

"Her body had been..mutilated and around her neck was a note. The note was addressed to a "Mistress Sang Sorenson". That would be you, I'm afraid. Based off of the contents of the letter and the manner of the mutilation of the young women, we can only assume that you have been included in the hit list of Adam Ayers."

I began trembling as the agent continued to talk. Silas was suddenly there, his strong arms wrapping me up and holding me together as my body threatened to shake apart. I worked to control my breathing as the agents voice faded into a cloud of white noise. Suddenly, I had to know something and I rudely interrupted the agents.

"Do you have the letter?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Sorenson?"

"I said, do you have the letter that was addressed to me."

As my question registered, a tense silence followed and a volley of looks were shot from one person to another.

"Sang baby, that's probably not a good idea right now. You're tired and it's been a long day..."

"Do not tell me what is or isn't a good idea right now North," I snapped back. They didn't understand, though they really tried to. I NEEDED to know what the letter said.

The two agents looked to one another before Agent Gabbins walked over to the coffee table. A small briefcase sat on top of it and he quickly pulled out a plastic baggy containing a red stained piece of paper. I flinched at the realization that the rust-red stains were dried blood, but I steeled my self as I gingerly took the letter.

_Dear Mistress Sang,_

_I had a little moppet,_

_I had put her in my pocket,_

_and fed her with corn and hay. _

_There came a proud beggar,_

_And swore he should have her;_

_And stole my little moppet away!_

_I do feel rather sad, my lovely little moppet, to have been away from you for so long. It must have pained you greatly, but fear not! We shall soon be playfellows once more, you and I. Give Mister Blackbourne and the good Doctor Green my best, why don't you? Also, I feel like a horrible father for having missed my own son's eleventh birthday. Eleven is a fine year to turn, so I gave him a little present, a dolly all his own. I rather hope he enjoys it, as I really worked hard on it for him. I got it to match my own moppet after all. Wish dear Seth a Merry Birthday and give little Jaimie a kiss on the cheek for me. Until we all meet again, my dear ones._

_Sincerely yours with great love,_

_Dr. Adam Ayers_

Feeling my stomach lurch violently as I took in the full impact of the letter, I was soon running down the hallway, the others crying after me. Giant tears ran down my face and I quickly dropped onto my knees and emptied my stomach. Warm, familiar hands settled around my back, head, and shoulders, desperately attempting to sooth me as the panic upset my stomach again and again. I didn't even realize that I was fading at first, but as the black took over my sight, I welcomed the soft embrace of darkness with a tired and beleaguered heart.


	4. Sors Conjunctio Sanguinis

AN: Hello one and all! Here is part four to Lusorium. This chapter's title is Fate's bond of blood and will set the stage for future events. It's a little slow, action wise, in comparison to some of the previous chapters, but part 5 is where things will really pick up. :D Please, after you read, leave me a review so I know what you birdies think about this story!

Lusorium 4: Sors Conjunctio Sanguinis

"Aiden Moffat! I told you to be here a half hour ago!"

I resisted a cringe at the imperious tone of Aisling Gray as she scolded me for arriving late. She had set up this meeting yesterday with a brief call to my house that had ended in hissed accusations and hidden bruises under my sleeves. My mother was not very fond of people calling the house and had made her displeasure at the unexpected call quite clear. Thankfully, my father had not been home, probably getting pissed drunk at some bar or other, or I would not be standing here right now. It was always worse when father was home.

The reason for my delayed arrival was because I had missed the bus that would have gotten me here sooner and had to wait for the next a whole twenty minutes. Not all of us had mother's who drove us wherever we pleased, or even cared where we were half the time. Pushing down the spike of irritation at the loud girl in front of me, I gave a shrug in response and made no excuses. I didn't dislike the normally polite, pretty girl, but she did have a rather severe temper on her. It tended to raise her voice into a rather unpleasant, even grating, way and I always shied away when she was in a mood. I couldn't help it sometimes. It sounded too much like my mother and I had learned long ago to make myself scarce when she used that tone.

Usually it wasn't so bad, because Seth was right there with me to placate his girlfriend and redirect attention to himself, but that was the whole point of this meet-up, wasn't it? Seth wasn't here and neither of us had seen or heard a thing from him in almost four days. After the horrific ending to what had probably been one of the most fun days of my life, in which my best friend and his brother broke down so dishearteningly in front of everyone, we were worried.

With school being closed for some police investigation or something the last few days, we had not had a chance to see him and whenever either of us called, Carol or Tom would usually give us some empty placation and no answers. I knew there was something wrong and while Aisling and I were not the biggest fans of one another, we both cared a lot about Seth and that was enough to get us to this point. At a small park in the middle of suburban Charleston, with Aisling nagging at me and me trying to hold my tongue.

"...honestly, Aiden, it's like you don't care about Seth at all!"

At this part, I reached the end of my thinning patience and felt uncharacteristic anger rush through me.

"Shut up, Aisling! Don't you dare say I don't care about Seth. He's my best friend and I'm just as worried about him, if not more so, than you are," I snapped back at her. Her light blue eyes widened almost comically and her mouth snapped shut. A second later, she bristled up and opened her mouth once more, her eyes flashing with indignation. I stared her down, keeping my face serious and sincere, and after a moment or two, she relaxed.

She quickly averted her eyes and silence descended over us in a tense blanket that just got more awkward the longer it went on. I found myself falling into my thoughts, worrying at my lip as I was want to do when I was feeling anxious. A sudden noise jolted me back to the present and I turned to face Aisling once more. She had slammed her hands down on the picnic table and she was now looking at me with a look of contrition.

"Sorry, Aiden, that was uncalled for. I know you're worried too. I'm just so frustrated and I'm just so scared. I've never...I've never seen Seth cry, ever! And the way he and Jaimie just broke down like that...I'm just scared."

Emotion clogged her throat and a tear fell down her porcelain cheek. Honestly, I could totally relate to how she felt. Seth was one of the happiest, coolest people I had every had the honor to know. He was always quick to grin and he had a way of making me come out of my shell and laugh. Laughter and I were not typically friends, ever, let alone joking and playing.

I remember the very first time I noticed Seth Ayers. He entered school late into the season, on a brisk autumn day. He was a small kid, for our age, and he could only be described as pretty. Large jade eyes eyes stared out through a curtain of raven-wing black curls warily. His pink, cupids bow lips were pressed into a tense line and his pale, symmetrical features looked delicate and feminine. As he quietly introduced himself, the hint of two dimples graced his pale cheeks.

I felt a wave of pity as he made his way to the seat kitty corner to mine, because I saw Terrance "the Terror" Belfast share a wicked grin with his stupid cronies. A tall, hefty boy that outweighed any other boy in our year, Terrance was a complete dick and had spent the last year making my school life a living hell. His plain, ruddy face was made exceptionally ugly by the almost constant sneer he displayed and his black, beady eyes always had a wicked gleam. All in all, he was a horribly cruel kid and everyone was scared of him.

He frequently terrorized all the "faggy losers" as he called all his victims, most of whom were much smaller or younger, and I happened to be his absolute favorite. He always called me Gayden or Grits, a reference to the term gritter. We had been discussing the history of derogatory terms in ethics class one day and the teacher had outlined some terms that ranged from ethnic, religious, to even class slurs. Of course, Terrance and his crew just lapped it all up.

Gritter

noun

a person who is of the red-neck, trailer trash, low morals variety. A serious insult.

Terrance had brayed loudly like the over blown jackass he is at this one and had zeroed in on me instantly. Loudly, he addressed me and told me it suited me perfectly. Terrance took special pleasure in pointing out my lack of money and living situation constantly. Being a private school, with a pricey tuition fee, most students who attended the school were from affluent, well-to-do families. I made it here through an academic scholarship and as such, was an outcast. The entire class had laughed as I sat miserably in the corner, my cheeks burning with mortification and resisting the burn of angry tears.

After that, Grits stuck and even those who didn't actively terrorize me had taken to calling me that, despite how much I hated the term. Terrance made a special effort to "put me in my place" daily by pushing me around, calling me names, and stealing my things. I had not been able to eat a meal at school in over eight months and after a month of having my food stolen or spat on, I stopped trying. I silently endured the torment all this time and never said anything for one reason and one reason only.

Notifying the teachers would be swiftly followed by a call to my parents and I refused to poke that sleeping bear if I could help it. Enduring hell at school was better than creating more hell at home. So it was with great pity that I recognized the malicious glee in Terrance's eyes as he tracked Seth's progress. The small kid had unknowingly had a target painted on his back and he was so frail looking that I was afraid he wouldn't be able to last the week.

It was with no surprise to anyone that Terrance approached the new kid at lunch, a miniature clone sitting at his side chatting animatedly, and 'accidentally' knocked the kid's milk over so it spilled onto his entire tray. Terrance and his goons gave some blatantly fake apology before they laughed and walked off.

The little clone frowned deeply at the events, displeasure clear on his cherubic face and his golden eyes flashing, and he pushed his tray forward within seconds. Seth smiled down at his little brother, because that was the only person the clone could be, they were so similar looking, and they split the lunch without any further fuss.

Terrance and his goon squad continued to bully the small, quiet boy over the next month, getting progressively worse as each action or taunt was met with a dispassionate gaze and cool composure. I found myself naturally drawn to the kid, who surprised me daily with his unaffected composure and inner steel. Just as my fascination grew, so did Terrance's obsession with breaking the boy. It all came to a head when the bully did the one thing he never should have. He tried to go after little Jaimie Ayers.

It was the worst mistake he probably would ever make in his life and I had front row seats to it all playing out.

I was sitting in a quiet, secluded portion of the school grounds, my personal sanctuary, sketching a nearby tree. Art was my escape from the daily horrors I faced, the worry and fear slipping away in every line and pass of the graphite pencil. It was the one place I could pour out all the pent up emotions I hid behind a carefully constructed wall. I was so immersed in depicting the little robin in the tree, infusing life and motion into the still picture, that I was unaware of my audience until his small form cast a shadow over my sketchbook.

Snapping out of the art induced trance I had fallen under, I looked up quickly to find the wonder-filled gaze of Seth Ayer's little brother. His mouth was stretched in a wide grin and he looked at my little sketch as if it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Feeling super self-conscious as I always did of my work, I hugged the drawing to my chest suddenly, which brought the golden eyes upwards to meet my own hazel ones.

"Wow! You are super talented! You're almost as good as Gabie is. Do you paint too?"

His voice was the high, clear tone that all young children seem to possess and he barely reached my sternum, he was so tiny. Not sure who Gabie was, but realizing I was being complimented, I flushed in embarrassment. Shaking my head silently, I averted my eyes and waited for him to get bored and wonder off. Instead, the young boy plopped down right next to me on the rock I sat on.

Curious, I focused on him once again and he beamed up at me once more. His curls, just as midnight black as his brothers, fell longer down to his tiny shoulders and looked like the fluffy down of a baby bird. As he grinned up at me, a few stray curls fell into his face and he distractedly pushed them aside as he stuck out one of his small hands. "My name is Jaimie Ayers. And you are?"

Hesitantly and more than a little bemused, I took his petite hand in my larger ones and gave it a brief shake. "Aiden. Aiden Moffat," I murmured back quietly, feeling my natural shyness war with my intense curiosity of the Ayers brothers. At my name, Jaimie somehow brightened even further and giggled up at me.

"It's nice to meet you Aiden Moffat!"

His smile was infectious and I found myself grinning back despite everything. The mood was instantly ruined when the boisterous, sneering voice of Terrance unexpectedly broke through the peaceful alcove.

"Ahhh, isn't this sweet? The little fags are making friends with one another. Grits, you're making me cry here."

Cringing internally as I always did when he called me that, I whirled around to face the hulking figure the other boy cut. He was standing in the entrance to the alcove, cutting off our exit and I felt my hackles raise in response. He was flanked by his two goons, like always, and his eyes danced with malicious intent and he glanced at first myself then Jaimie and back again. Little Jaimie Ayers only stared at the bully in wary curiosity, just as poised and calm as his brother.

Terrance stalked forward with intent and I subtly put myself in front of my tiny companion. The action did not go unnoticed, and Terrance's grin widened dramatically. Without any warning, he ripped my sketchbook out of my arms, the only one I owned and the most precious thing to me. It was impossible to fully suppress the pained groan that was forcibly pulled from my throat and his grin turned practically gleeful as he started flipping through it.

I felt as if my soul was being forcibly bared to my absolute worst enemy as he callously flipped from one drawing to the next. And then he began to rip out the pages and I could no longer hold myself back. With a small cry of anguish, I leapt forward and clawed at his meaty arm desperately to get my book back. With a vicious push, he shoved me to the side and I felt my arms held forcibly by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

I started crying out helplessly as Terrance turned back to completely destroy my precious book. Or at least, he would have if Jaimie, teeny tiny Jaimie, didn't plow into the massive bullies' side and knock my book out of his cruel hands. Terrance had been taken by surprise, but he only staggered a step or two before he stabilized. In the time it took for him to recover, Jaimie had darted forward, swept up my book and danced away a good ten feet.

His childish face had set into a fierce glare and his eyes were alight with righteous indignation. Terrance sat there for a moment in stunned surprise, but I watched with a sinking feeling of dread in my stomach as his wicked grin returned in full force.

With uncharacteristic agility, Terrance charged the small boy and gripped the fragile looking arms in a vicious hold. At Jaimie's cry of pain, something in me snapped and I began to fight my captors with the frenetic energy of a wild animal. Not expecting the sudden resistance, I slipped through their hold swiftly and then I tackled Terrence to the ground. The next few moments happened in a chaotic rush that was somehow both a dizzying blur and in crystal clear focus.

Terrance recovered himself quickly and overpowered me rather pathetically easy. My head rang with the sudden burst of pain that shot through me as the enraged bully began to punch me solidly in the face and chest. A sudden force to the side threw Terrance off kilter for a moment and I could only watch in sudden fear as Jaimie held onto the meaty forearm, face set in grim determination.

When Terrance viciously backhanded the little boy, who fell with a sharp cry, I bucked under Terrance with desperate energy and managed to strike out at him. I nailed him solidly in the mouth, splitting his lip and effectively regaining his attention. The sudden bellow that shook the alcove took all of us by surprise and Terrance's fist froze inches from my face as we both turned to find an enraged Seth Ayers standing over the two downed goons.

He took in one look at his sobbing little brother and then the full weight of his poison green eyes fell onto the frozen bully. Before I knew what hit me, Terrance was forced off of me fully as Seth tackled him bodily. The bullies' knee was driven into my diaphragm as he was taken down and I found myself in the terrifying state of having zero air in my lungs and being unable to draw another breath.

Panic clouded my thoughts as I instinctively rolled onto my side and drew my legs into my chest. Breathe, I told myself. Breathe! The unexpected feel on hands on my shoulder had me flinching away in surprise, but I payed them little attention as I continued to fight my spasming lungs. A smaller set of hands patted at my head, which were now covered by my arms.

It could have been seconds or hours as I lay there in panicked agony for all I knew, but then in one fell swoop, my lungs opened and I was gulping in sweet air. As the air flowed in and out, my fear began to subside and sound began to filter past the blood rushing in my ears. Senseless words of comfort chorused around me and with some trepidation, I opened my one uninjured eye. The other was already swelling shut and my face hurt as I looked up.

Twin heads of curly raven black were focused down on me in concern. Two gem bright sets of eyes, Jade and gold respectively, were looking at me with worry and relief in their fathomless depths. Jaimie, noticing my one eyed gaze, leaned forward and I frowned at the sight of the split lip and darkening bruise on his childish face. Surprisingly, it was Seth who spoke first.

"Hey, are you okay now?"

Okay was a relative term at the moment, but I knew he was referring to my panicked bout of breathlessness, so I nodded in response. Feeling my cheeks burn in embarrassment, I levied myself up quickly. Too quickly, it turned out, as my head swam and my vision whited out briefly while fire burned up and down my abused chest. Surprisingly strong arms helped support me up and Seth's face dropped in concern once more.

"Hey, none of that okay? Just take it easy a moment."

Feeling like my tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth, I dumbly nodded my head as the world slowly stopped spinning. A small pat to my arm drew my attention to the young boy who had tried to protect my worthless hide, twice. I felt my heart warm in my battered chest as Jaimie held out my ripped but intact sketchbook to me.

"Here you go, Aiden. I gathered up all the pages I could, but I think some of them are damaged beyond repair."

Cradling the precious book to my chest, I fought a wave of tears as I quietly thanked the brave little boy. A small bump to my shoulder drew my gaze and I was surprised to find Seth giving me an assessing look, his delicate features serious and almost grave.

"Jaimie tells me you protected him from that fat tub of lard, Terrance."

A scoff was forced out of me and before I could stop myself, I answered the implied question. "More like he saved me. Twice, in fact. I'm so pathetic, it's disgusting," I spat out in self deprecation. Seth and Jaimie both pursed their lips in unison, their expressions mirror images, and quickly they looked at one another. An entire conversation passed between them in only a matter of seconds, questions and answers flung back and forth, it was too difficult to keep up.

Some agreement must have been reached, because they both turned to face me at the same time with matching, dimpled grins. Seth stuck a hand out and I was struck by a curious sense of deja vue."My name is Seth Ayers. It is a pleasure to meet up, Aiden. Want to be friends?"

And with a simple handshake, I had my very first friend, ever. After that day, Terrance never touched or threatened me ever again. Grits became a much hated, forgotten thing of the past. Seth had thrashed the Tubbo', as Seth had taken to calling Terrance, and his goon squad so thoroughly that day that the larger boy refused to go anywhere near him. And where Seth went, I now followed.

He had a way of drawing me out of the wall I had long ago built for myself, never once judging me for all the dreams and fears I kept within. He was also an extremely intelligent and clever boy, something I was happy about because I never had to dumb down my conversation like I always had to at home. At least, whenever I ever talked at home. We were able to talk about topics that went over most kid's heads and we had a quick report between us that never failed to make me laugh. I don't remember the last time I laughed before Seth became my friend.

However, that intelligence became a double edged sword when he started noticing the numerous bruises that frequently dotted my frame. He would never ask me any questions but he would get this grim look on his face. I was terrified he would ruin everything one of these days by asking those unspoken questions that would dance in his gem-like eyes. Then father came home one day, smelling strongly of bourban, and I was out of school for a week and a half, "sick".

The second I stepped foot into school again, Seth dragged me out to what had become "our spot" and I followed behind with my heart in my throat. I knew then that today was going to be the day that Seth was going to finally ask. He was going to ask and everything would be ruined and then he would leave me because I was a pathetic, unwanted child.

To this day, I remember the feeling of complete stunned disbelief as Seth merely unbuttoned his shirt and displayed a body that told so much. A story told in jagged scars that shone against his nearly translucent skin. When I was finally able to meet his eyes, instead of disgust or hatred, I found complete and utter understanding. For the first time time since I was a small child, I cried and Seth cried with me, neither of us saying a single word. We didn't need to, for we understood each other perfectly in that moment.

In the weeks and months that followed, Seth told me slowly about the life he and Jaimie lived before they were adopted by their current parents. He told me about a mother who died, about a man named Sir who was once daddy, and about a pretty girl named Sang with her nine knights in denim armor. He opened up about everything, never once asking for anything in return. But he didn't have to, not really.

Before long, I started telling him about a mother who yelled, who pinched and slapped and called me a mistake. I told him about two brothers who mocked and hated me, calling me a queer and uppity bitch. I told him about a father who disappeared for weeks at a time, only returning when the money and drink run dry, and the hell he left in his wake each and every time.

And after I shared everything there was to share, Seth had looked me in the eye and promised me that he would save me. He promised he would get me away from that dark place and despite myself, I believed him. I believed each and every promise, because Seth meant it and he had never lied to me. Not once.

Seth made that promise to me a little over a week ago now and now it was my turn to save him. Feeling a surge of determination rush through me, I returned my focus on the miserable looking girl in front of me. "Well, if he can't come to us, we can go to him," I told her.

Aisling snapped to attention at my statement, the start of a familiar spark taking root in her light eyes. "Yes, you're totally right. We can go to him and get answers that way."

A chuckle behind me, way too close for comfort, had the hairs at the nape of my neck standing up and I snapped around to find the source of the sound. A man, looking to be in his upper thirties, was standing right behind me and I stood up and backed away from him instinctively. His dull brown eyes tracked my movement with sharp intensity, amusement clear in their unfathomable depths. A grin curled his mouth upwards and he looked between Aisling and I with an almost hungry look.

Aisling was quick to join me and we watched the strange man with wary suspicion. As if completely oblivious to our trepidation, he merely sat down at the table we had just vacated.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry to have startled you two. I was walking nearby and couldn't help seeing how miserable you two looked. I was merely concerned, you see. Please, sit. I mean you no harm."

Alarm bells were ringing through my head and I reached out to grasp Aisling's wrist. "Thank you for the concern, sir, but we really must be off."

Aisling nodded her head rapidly in agreement and I started slowly backing us away from the creep. He sighed loudly, running a hand through his mousy brown hair, before he locked eyes with me once more. Something swam in his eyes that had my skin crawling and the grin that lit his plain face froze my insides.

"Honestly, kids these days. No manners, I tell you. Isn't that right, Jeffreys?"

"Oh, right you are, Doc, right you are."

At the sound of the deep, gravely voice right behind me, I startled forward and tried to make a break for it. Before I managed to make it more than a step, a heavy hand clamped onto my shoulder like a vice and squeezed hard. I just managed to bite off the groan that threatened at the sudden burst of pain and Aisling whimpered at my side. Unable to look behind me at the force of the hand on my shoulder, I was frogmarched forward and forcefully sat at the picnic table.

Tears stung at my eyes from the painful shove I got into the table and the hand moved to clench at the back of my neck, forcing me to face the creepy guy. Said man was merely smiling contentedly at the two of us, his head resting casually in one of his hands.

"Thank you, Jeffreys, as always. Now, children, my name is Dr. Adam Ayers and I want to have a little conversation with you about my son, Seth."

Ice filled my veins as I realized who exactly was the madman in front of me, who merely smiled like the devil himself as I glared and Aisling began to sob.

XxXxX

AN: And there you have part 4! Sorry this one is a little shorter than normal, but it had to end at that part I'm afraid. :D Please leave me a comment to let me know how you are liking this so far and what you are looking forward to next! Until next week dear readers!


	5. Hiems comederunt cor ver

AN: Oh thank you all for your incredible patience my dear birdies! I am a total idiot and I forgot my power cord last weekend while I was visiting family and this part just did not come in time so I decided to wait a week. Sorry for the extended cliffy, but here is the next part. The title for this chapter stands for Winter Ate The Heart of Spring. Please, as always, comment and let me know what you think! Ps, just a heads up, some strong wording at parts in this chapter.

Lusorium 5: Hiems comederunt cor ver

Washing dishes used to be an activity I utterly despised growing up. I used to avoid it like the plague and my mother would always have to take me to task just to get the beastly things done. Somewhere in the subsequent years, that hatred turned into resignation. Then resignation turned to contentment, probably shortly after I married and moved in with Tom and the house became my own domain. Not that Tom didn't help out around our house, because he did a fair amount of it, but he knew I enjoyed and took pride of running our roost like the new bride I was.

After ten years together, washing dishes became an act of comfort, somehow. I was able to de-stress from a long or emotionally draining shift at work or whenever I got in a rare tiff with Tom in the midst of the warm, soapy water. The mindless act of scrubbing, rinsing, than drying dishes, one piece at a time, gave me the chance to muse on whatever issue or other was currently bothering me. After the upheaval of the last four days, I found myself standing in front of my sink often.

It helped that Owen and Sean and all of their team had practically become fixtures at our house since the disastrous ending to Seth's birthday, and the increased company provided me with a never ending stream of dishes to clean. Of course, they offered to clean up after every meal, bless them, but I would not hear a word of it. They were doing everything they could to locate that monster of a man and protect my two babies, after all.

My heart twinged at the thought of the two boys that were currently sitting on the living room settee, each cuddled into the sides of the girl they both so adored. I knew without looking that all three would look wan and wrung out, a haunted look stamped into their normally vibrant eyes. They would be hunkered together, silently drawing strength and comfort from the other two while simultaneously locked up in their own heads.

A small part of me, the tiniest, imperfect, and all too human side, wanted to be the one that my two boys clung to. I wanted to be the source of love, safety, and strength that would get Jaimie and Seth through these difficult times. I was their mother, not Sang. Whenever those voices bubbled up, however, I would squash them down as swiftly as I could. Despite how much my heart ached to hold my boys, my precious sons, Sang was the only one in the house who could relate to how they were currently feeling.

The only other person to understand what it felt like to be under the cruel thumb of that…that bastard! I refused to even say his name in my thoughts, I reviled him so utterly and entirely. He was nothing more than a monster, an evil beast who had the gall to come after my family once more. I felt my blood pressure rise as my thoughts turned to the one responsible for everything and the level of his depravity. My stomach literally churned as I recalled the images the FBI agents had shown us of that poor girl that had the misfortune of finding herself in the clutches of that monster.

The girl's mouth had been stitched shut so meticulously and stitches bisected her face twice over, both horizontally and vertically. A large wound at her throat, the killing slice, was oh so carefully sutured close and each of her limbs had been sliced off with a bone saw, only to be re-attached with thick black stitches. The most horrific part of the whole thing had been her eyes. Oh God, her eyes!

The eyelids had been carefully sown open in a sick mimicry of surprise and then each eye, once so pretty and green, was removed only to be replaced by glass ones. To make matter worse, that poor girl had been wide awake and without any form of pain killer involved. In fact, the FBI agents had told us all that she would have been awake for the entire thing up to the fatal cut on her neck and that the entire thing would have taken hours upon unknown hours.

The entire room had fallen into a silence so all-consuming after the agents revealed the true horror of what that bastard had done, all under the guise of a birthday gift. A "gift" for my eleven year old son. It went without saying that we kept Sang and the boys sheltered from knowing exactly what had happened. Sang had already looked so painfully pale and ill that night, which only served to agitate Seth and Jaimie the next day. And so, the three had taken to clinging to one another in their distress and the rest of us were helpless to do anything more than to watch.

My rage had reached a fevered high at my thoughts and before I ever realized what I was doing, I was throwing the plate in my soapy hands into the almost empty sink with a desperate strength. The plate shattered on impact, breaking the cups and clattering loudly with the silverware that remained in it. Silence followed my outburst, then a clatter of footsteps ran into the kitchen. Refusing to turn around to acknowledge those who had just entered, I found myself staring at the mess of broken glass and ceramics in my sink, my hands braced against the counter.

After only a second or two, familiar arms wrapped around my shoulders, stilling the trembling which had settled in at some point. Loving hands turned me around and I found myself staring up into beloved hazel eyes that were as familiar as my own. Questions filled his gaze, surrounded by concern and love that warmed my heart every time I saw it. It only took a second before tears spilled over and I was burying myself into Tom's strong chest, his arms a warm and reassuring weight around my back.

He held me as I struggled to recollect myself, his presence acting as a glue to hold my fraying nerves together. A warm kiss to my temple and senseless words of comfort calmed me better than anything else could and I was able to step back after a few short moments. A small hand on my arm drew my attention down to the fearful and concerned looks of my sons and I could no longer help myself. Throwing arms around them both, needing to feel them alive and well, I buried my head into the soft curls I so adored.

"It's okay, my doves. I'm okay now. I was just…it was just too much for a second, but I'm fine now, I promise."

Precious and oh so tiny arms tightened around me and I relished the feeling of my babies reaching out to me as I had been craving since all of this had begun. After a second, Jaimie, his lovely face crinkled up in amusement, turned to look at me.

"It's okay Carol, I get angry sometimes too. And we're not doves! You and Sang are doves, right? You're the birds, we're the dogs."

A surprised burst of laughter pulled from my chest, chorused by familiar laughter at all present. Oh how I loved these two! Gabriel stepped forward a little from his place at the wall, a grin lighting his handsome features. "You're more like a puppy Jaimie. Like little Jem, but someday you'll make it to dog status, I'm sure," he said with faux seriousness. I sent him a grateful smile as the levity lifted the tension and as both Seth and Jaimie giggled at Gabriel as he winked in response.

Sang caught my eyes seconds later and she silently asked me if I was really okay. Warmed by her concern, I sent her a small nod. Suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, I turned to begin picking up the mess I had made of my sink, but North and Silas were already standing there. "It's okay Carol, we got this. Why don't you go take a break in the family room? The munchkins were about to choose a movie to watch for us." North's voice was gruff, but his dark eyes were soft and Silas smiled and made an exaggerated shoo-ing motion with his big hands.

Feeling a little nonplussed at being so thoroughly dismissed in my own kitchen, I started allowing myself to be led away gently by my boys. Honestly, we were all so frazzled by recent events and I recognized how beneficial a few hours together in mindless solidarity would be for us all. Before I could make it more than a few steps, however, our home phone rang out from the hallway. Gently extracting myself from my sons' hands, I swiftly made my way to the receiver.

Picking up the phone to my ear, I mentally prepared myself for an anxious sounding Aisling or Aiden. They called every night like clockwork and while I was more grateful than I could say for their love of Seth and even Jaimie, it was a little draining having to let them off gently every night.

"Richardson household," I lightly stated, making sure to keep my voice poised and warm.

"Carol? This is Theresa Gray. Is Aisling there by any chance?"

Startled by the unexpected call and the underlining strain of veiled concern, I frowned and carefully turned myself away from the audience I had. "No, Theresa, I haven't seen Aisling since Seth's birthday party."

"Oh….has Seth heard from her by any chance? I dropped her off at a nearby park this afternoon to meet up with little Aiden Moffat and I was supposed to pick them up a little bit ago after picking up Maggie from soccer practice. When I got back, I couldn't find them and Aisling is not answering her cell. Can you please ask Seth? Please?"

At the blatant desperation in her voice, tight with concern, I turned to face the group watching me. Seth, at hearing Aisling's name, had walked closer and confusion dotted his face. Waving him over, I assured Theresa I would.

"Seth, have you heard from either Aisling or Aiden at all today? Mrs. Gray would like to know, sugar."

The confusion only grew on his face as he shook his head no. Trepidation started to seep in, but I fought to control my voice as I redirected my attention to the anxious mother on the phone. "I'm sorry to say that Seth hasn't heard from either of them today either."

A shaky intake on the other line, muffled but still audible, had my heart fluttering in my chest. Theresa Gray was terrified and we had been a last ditch hope, I could tell. Galvanized, I did what I could to give her some semblance of comfort. "No need to fret just yet, Theresa. They could have decided to make their way here and they haven't gotten here yet. We can help you look for them if you would like?" I offered and Theresa gladly accepted. We quickly exchanged cell numbers and I promised to keep her updated if we found anything.

As soon as I got off the phone, I turned to face the collection of confused and concerned glances I was receiving. Foremost in the crowd was Seth, who looked like he was practically vibrating with tension. He held little Jem in his arms, who butted his small head under the pale boy's chin every so often with soft whines. Questions shot from his emerald eyes and I really didn't want to answer but it needed to be done.

Addressing the room at large, I squared my shoulders and steeled my spine. "That was Aisling's mother. She said that she dropped Aisling off at a nearby park where she was supposed to meet up with Aiden. After she picked up Aisling's sister, she went to pick up the two of them from the park. When she got there, neither child was present and now Aisling is not answering her cell phone or responding to texts. Understandably, she's concerned and asked for our help."

Silence followed my explanation, but faces paled all around and Seth's face dropped open in blatant horror. Suddenly, Victor was launching himself into the family room and before I could say a word, he returned with his laptop. Setting it on the counter, he popped it open and began to type away at it furiously. We all kind of watched him in stunned awe for a second, but then he was asking Seth for Aisling's cell number.

Seth recited it quickly and Victor resumed his rapid typing as boxes opened and closed rapidly across his screen. Luke and Kota leaned over his shoulder as Owen gained my attention. "Carol, can you contact Aiden's family to see if he has made it home?"

Startled out of my stupor, I returned to the handset and after looking briefly at my black book I kept here for such occasions, I dialed in the number to the Moffat household. I waited anxiously for someone to pick up and felt Seth lean into my side as I waited. His face was a mask of anxiety and hope and I wrapped my free arm around his thin shoulders.

After what seemed like a small eternity, a voice answered with a snap. "Who is this?" The voice was low for a women's, roughened by heavy cigarette usage I suspected, and sounded extremely irritated. Swallowing my own ire at the rude answer, I composed my voice to be polite.

"Hello, is this Ms. Moffat? My name is Carol Richardson, I'm Seth Richardson's mother. Is Aiden home by any chance?"

A sound akin to someone sucking their teeth answered my question, which made me cringe internally. I had never before talked to Aiden's parents before, but I had developed an impression that they were not the nicest of folks. It was confirmed for me after a rather obnoxious scoff. "Who the fuck are you? And why the fuck are you calling me?"

"I just said. I'm Carol Richardson, Seth's mo-"

"I don't know no Seth, bitch, and I sure as fuck don't know or care who you are," was the rude response. Fighting my frustration at the unpleasant women on the other end, I interrupted the rant I felt building on the other line.

"Look here, your son is possibly missing right now. Is he or is he not home?!" I all but snapped at her. Seth tensed in my hold and both Owen and Tom were watching me with growing frowns. I never yelled, ever, but this women was really testing my fraying patience. Silence followed my terse question and then another tsk sound rolled through the phone.

"No, you fucking twat, he ain't and I don't really fucking care. Not that it is any business of yours, you uppity bitch. Don't you fucking call me again."

I could only stare at the phone in something akin to stunned disbelief before I slammed it down on the cradle with more force than necessary. Seth was looking at the phone with such a deep sadness that I knew he had heard every word.

"Carol?"

Tom's question had me swallowing the contempt I was feeling and I turned to face him instead. By this point, North and Silas had been updated and half the team was watching Victor and the other half were staring at me expectantly.

"Aiden did not make it home, so it is safe to say that whatever happened to the two, they are most likely together."

Owen nodded in response before turning to face Victor. "How is the search going, have you located her cell phone yet Victor?"

"Almost there guys, give me a few more seconds…Ah! Okay, I've got it now. It's relatively close, maybe a 25 minute drive from here, max."

"Okay, North, I want you to take Kota, Nathan, Victor, and Silas with you and locate Miss gray's phone. Report back to us if you find Miss Gray and Mister Moffat. Luke, Gabriel, I want you two to stay here in case they show up here. Sean and I have a few things we need to check out in the meantime. We'll be in touch, though, if any of you find anything. Miss Sorenson, I'd prefer it if you stayed here for the moment, if you do not mind. "

Nods were exchanged around and the selected boys left out the door with a kiss on Sang's forehead and a small pat on the head for each of my boys. After they all left the front door, Jaimie made the way over to his worried brother and gave him a big hug. Sevvie's large form trotted calmly after him, his eyes intent on Jaimie all the while.

God bless that dog, he never let that boy out of his sight if he could help it. He was one of the best ideas Tom and I had ever had and in a few short months, Jem would be right next to him in the size department. Speaking of the laid back pup, Jem reached down and gave Sevvie's large black nose a small lick which was eagerly returned by Sevvie's large tongue. Despite the situation, Seth grinned a little at the exchange, but it was quickly squashed under the anxiety he was clearly feeling.

Sang suddenly piped in, her soft voice gentle and filled with warmth as she suggested that we still watch a movie as we waited. It was obvious that Seth was not so enthused by her suggestion, but Luke and Gabriel cajoled him with light teasing and I sent all three of them a grateful smile as they got the two worried boys to settle down in front of the television. Tom and I decided to join them, intent on distracting ourselves in the lighthearted movie Jaimie had selected.

Despite the fact that we were all watching it, occasionally Seth would check the clock on the wall or one of us adults would check our cells. Underneath the occasional giggle or laugh from one of us was a tension that only drew ever tighter as the minutes passed. After an hour had passed, I began to feel a little frazzled the longer my phone stayed silent. There was no way that the boys had not located Aisling's cell phone by now and the radio silence did not bode well.

By the time the credits were rolling, we had still not heard a word and I was getting ready to ring Owen up to see what was happening when the soft jazz tones of my ringtone sounded. I jumped at the unexpected sound, but answered swiftly, thinking it was Owen or Sean.

"What took you guys so long, Owen?"

"Oh, no, sorry, this is Theresa Gray again."

Her voice sounded strained and tight and the fear was much closer to the surface this time around. Feeling a little embarrassed at having been too impatient to check my caller id, I cleared my throat lightly. At this point, everyone was staring at me, waiting to see what was going on.

"Oh, sorry about that Theresa, I thought you were a family friend of ours. We haven't heard from Aisling or Aiden yet, I'm afraid, but we are trying to help find them," I assured her with as much conviction as I could put into my voice.

Silence followed and I waited as patiently as I could. I could only imagine the terror that was going through her mind right now over her missing daughter. I did not want to entertain the possibility we were all afraid of, willfully denying the possibility of such a tragedy.

"…..I just got a call from the police. Aisling is in the hospital. She and Aiden were apparently dropped off at St. Francis about twenty minutes ago."

Just as the force of what I had just heard hit me, the phone in the hallway began ringing and Tom got up to answer it, but not before casting me a concerned glance as he passed. I knew my face had paled dramatically at the bad news and at the way I was suddenly gripping my phone. Everyone present was now staring at me in open concern. Luke popped up suddenly, his hands reaching for his pocket before pulling out his flashing cell. He quickly darted out of the room to answer it and Gabriel looked torn for a moment, like he wanted to follow after his best friend.

It took me a few more moments to collect myself and when I finally responded, my voice sounded strangled and pained. "Are they okay?"

"I honestly don't know, they won't tell me anything but I'm on my way. I just thought you would like to know. I need to go now, but I will try to let you know how she is later."

"No need, we will be there in about a half hour. Seth will want to be there for the both of them," I answered and said boy gave me a sharp look. I gave him as sincere a smile as I was able, but I was afraid it wasn't very convincing if his face was anything to go by. After a quick acknowledgement, she hung up and I turned to answer the silent questions all directed my way. Before I can say anything, a pale Luke came back into the room trailed by my grim faced husband. Ice dropped into my stomach at their expressions and I just knew I wasn't going to like what they were about to say.

"There were two bodies found in the place the others tracked the signal to. Aisling's cell was in one of their pockets, apparently. The others are currently talking with the FBI, which is why we haven't heard anything from them. Mr. Blackbourne and the Doc are currently dealing with the situation." Luke's voice was carefully controlled as he recited all of that, as if he had not just delivered another blow.

Seth gasped, his eyes wide, terrified, and quickly filling with tears as his face began to crumple. Realizing that he had jumped to a false conclusion, I quickly interjected before he could have a full meltdown. "Aisling and Aiden are alive Seth, sugar bean. That was Mrs. Gray on the phone just a second ago. She said that Aiden and Aisling are in the hospital, but they are alive. We'll be on our way to see how they are doing right away, okay?"

Sang wrapped her arms around Seth's shaking form as he hiccupped a few aborted sobs. The manic fear that had been building in his eyes at a frightening rate disappeared just as swiftly and he looked like he was going to be sick at any moment. He gave me a small nod and Jem raised his head to lick at his owner's pale cheek once more. Kissing him briefly on the forehead, I rushed to get my keys and purse. Tom had followed me into the hallway and he gently halted my progress with a hand to my elbow.

"What is it, Tommy?"

"Carol, I can't come with you right now. I need to head down to the police station. There was another letter with the bodies and the police requested I come down in regards to it. They weren't terribly specific, but I couldn't say no."

Feeling my stomach churn uneasily, I gave him a tight nod and he gave me a soft kiss on the cheek. By then, the others had trickled into the foyer and Tom gave them all a quick explanation before he headed out the door. He made sure to give both Seth and Jaimie a warm hug first and another kiss on my cheek before he took off. Seth reluctantly put Jem into his kennel, who settled instantly like the calm pup he was, and Sevvie walked into his without any fuss. He set his large head on his giant paws with a heavy sigh as he always did when we left the house and his golden eyes tracked Jaimie's progress outside the room with resignation.

Gabriel helped buckle Jaimie into his booster seat and we were on our way within a few short minutes. Luke and Gabriel kept distracting Jaimie and Seth both, bless their hearts, the whole drive and Sang held Seth's hand in solidarity. The drive seemed to go by in a flash and before I knew it, we were pulling into the hospital parking lot. I picked up Jaimie and grabbed Seth's hand as we entered the hospital and we filled out visitor passes. A kind nurse directed us to where Aisling and Aiden were staying and I thanked her with a tight smile.

Apparently the two children were within the same wing, only a few rooms apart, so we made our way there as quickly as possible. Gabriel took Jaimie from me in the elevator, who only snuggled into his chest as he set his head on his shoulder. I immediately knew which one was Aisling's room, as her mother stood outside the door talking to a few police officers. She noticed us approaching and she made a beeline our way, looking as if she left in the middle of whatever the cop had been saying. I sent her a small smile as she approached and was just about to enquire into Aisling's wellbeing when Theresa Gray pulled her hand back and slapped me smartly across the cheek.

XxXxXxX

I stared gobsmacked as Aisling's mother stood heaving in front of Carol, her face twisted into a sneer of such dark rage, I quelled a little in fear. Luke and Gabriel both cried out in protest as she lifted her hand to deliver another powerful hit, but then one of the police officers was there, pulling her back. Carol seemed frozen in shock and she lifted a hand up to her bright red cheek in a daze. Sang lightly put herself in front of me and pushed me back a few steps and then Aisling's mom was screaming at Carol.

"Your damn son got my girl hurt! She was almost fucking killed because of him. She's covered in bruises and her right collarbone and arm are fucking shattered. She won't say a damn word, she's so scared right now! Some fucking nutcase who's out for your damn kid and he went after mine instead!"

I felt instantly nauseous as the words coming out her mouth registered and the enraged, hate-filled look which met mine felt like a dagger. Sir had had Aisling and Aiden? Sir hurt them, because of me? Oh God, I felt instantly like I was going to hurl. By some miracle, I didn't and by this point, Mrs. Gray had seen me fully. Once she realized who I was, her face twisted further and she was lunging my way again.

"You almost got my daughter killed, you little shit! You are never to go near my daughter again, do you hear me? You are through with her! Through I tell you! You so much as call her, talk to her, or come near her again and I'll kill you myself!"

I flinched back at the pure vitriol that Aisling's mom was flinging my way and I instinctively shied into Sang's side. Sang held her ground, stepping fully in front of me this time to prevent her from further glaring at me.

The police began talking Mrs. Gray down, warning her that she would be escorted out if she continued to raise a ruckus and threaten us as she was. Carol appeared to have recovered this point and steeled her spine as she stepped in front of our entire group. As the noise and chaos began dying down, I saw Aisling's dad make his way over. I cringed internally, fearing his reaction, but he only walked up to Mrs. Gray, largely ignoring us.

"Terry, get ahold of yourself. Aisling woke up and would like to talk to Seth right now."

I perked up at my name and the fact that Aisling wanted to see me, but Aisling mother reared back like she had been struck. Color painted her cheeks and she opened her mouth, most likely to snarl out a refusal. "Enough! Our little girl has just been through a traumatic experience and wants to talk to Seth, and you are going to let her, dammit! Do I make myself clear?"

Silence descended on us all as Mr. Gray snapped at his wife, barely controlled anger coloring his voice. He then turned to face me, his face weary and his eyes incredibly sad. "Come on, boy, she's waiting and the medication will knock her out soon."

Mrs. Gray deflated like a balloon, looking twenty years older in an instance, before she whirled around and marched down the hall. Mr. Gray watched her go silently before he turned back to me, indicating I should follow him. Carol made to go after me, but the police stepped in at this point, asking if they could speak with her. She looked a little helpless and turned to stare at me, her real desire to follow me crystal clear. I turned to Sang instead, feeling like I needed her support right now, if nothing else.

"Will you come with me please? I'm scared." My voice warbled pathetically as I stared up at her, a silent plea directed her way. Her green eyes, so familiar and loving, softened at my request and she wrapped her arm around my shoulders, exactly like I needed.

"Of course Seth, I'll always be there when you need me to be."

"Hey pipsqueak, we'll be waiting for you out here, okay?" Gabriel chimed in, a gentle smile on his face that he seemed to reserve just for us. Jaimie and Luke both nodded at me, Jaimie's face conveying all the love and support I needed at the moment. Feeling strengthened by the sheer love around me and the warmth of Sang at my side, I followed after Mr. Gray's retreating back. I only hesitated a moment before walking into the dimly lit room, taking a moment at the door to steel myself for whatever I might see or hear.

Nothing could have ever prepared me for the sight of the girl I loved, looking as fragile and breakable as fine china, covered in plaster and bruises. I halted at the foot of the bed, just staring in horror at the vibrantly purple and black bruises that dotted her face. The right side of her chest and shoulders were covered in a thick cast and a white donut brace surrounded her thin throat. Her lovely silver blonde hair was hacked short in an ugly, choppy bob.

I felt as if my feet had turned to cement as Mr. Gray leaned down and lightly roused his daughter. She woke with a start, her light grey eyes frantically flying around the room before they registered where they were. Her monitor displayed her racing heart and you would have to be completely blind and deaf to miss the abject terror painted on her swollen face.

"Ashy, hun. Aiden's here, just like you asked."

As if those words gave her a magical sense, she narrowed in on my position at the foot of her bed. I flinched at the look of her left eye, broken vessels dying it a brilliant scarlet and making her grey eye look almost supernatural. We stared at one another for a few silent moments, her face a blank mask and mine a tableau of abject misery and guilt. After a handful of seconds, she silently waved me forward and it took a light push from Sang to get me moving.

Mr. Gray used the control panels on the hospital bed to raise Aisling up to a more supported upright position, though she winced as he did so. I forced myself to stand right in front of her and to meet her broken gaze in a marred face, but no matter what, I couldn't bring myself to say a word. Silence settled around us and like an idiot, I couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"Your dad hurt me."

I flinched at the croaked, almost illegible words, but forced myself to listen, although a larger side of me wanted to run as far away as I could.

"He hurt me and he hurt Aiden and then he laughed. He laughed and he looked so happy. I was so scared and it hurt and he LAUGHED!"

Her destroyed voice was suddenly tinged with hysteria and her eyes looked wild. Still, I couldn't say anything, because honestly, what could I say? What could I possibly say to make this whole thing okay? Not a damn thing, is what. Sang's hand fell onto my shoulder, a much needed comfort as I faltered under Aisling hysterical stare.

"He laughed and then he told me that if I didn't leave you alone forever, he would come back with that man again and kill me for real this time. I can't do that again Seth, I can't."

It was at this point that something like regret began to tinge her intent gaze and I felt my heart begin to unravel. She couldn't mean what I thought she meant, right?

"I'm sorry Seth, but I can't do that again, not ever again. I need you to leave and I never want to see you again."

As tears pooled in my eyes and my heart began to shudder under the pain that was slowly building, I was finally galvanized to speak.

"Ash, please, you can't mean that! I'm sorry, oh God, I'm so sorry. Please, don't do this! Please!" My voice broke on the last word and I reached out to take her unburdened hand. Before I could touch her, she flinched away and pulled her hand out of my reach.

"No! Don't touch me! He HURT me Seth, because of you! I can't do that again, I won't! He hurt me and it is your fault. Get out, get out, get out! I never want to see you again, ever! I hate you, Seth Ayers, and I wish I had never met you!"

I jumped away from her as if I had been burned and I felt my heart shatter in my chest. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe and Sang was pulling me out of the room as it spun around and around in my view. Right before Sang pulled me out of room, Aisling spoke up one last time.

"Wait, Seth, your father had a message he wanted me to give you."

I froze as my lungs fought to inflate, burning like glass down my throat as air sawed in and out.

"He wanted me to tell you he said…..he wanted me to say Happy Birthday, son. He'll see you real soon."

And suddenly I was running, stumbling out of that room. I ran further down the hall blindly, oblivious to everyone around me. The second I reached the dead end, I felt slim arms latch around me and then I was breaking apart. Sang swept me up in a firm hug as I screamed and sobbed out my pain into her chest, her sweater muffling the sound. She rocked me softly as I fell apart, the pain so sharp and searing, as my heart splintered further and further.

I loved Aisling. She was the very first girl I had ever loved like that and all I ever wanted to do was make her smile. I had loved Aisling Gray and it almost got her killed. Sir had hurt my girlfriend and best friend and had threatened to kill them if they stayed with me. All because of me. I wrapped myself tighter around Sang, her arms the only thing preventing me from completely shattering in a million pieces. I had never felt such abject despair, not since the day mommy died and was taken away.

Sang could have held me for hour or minutes, I would never know, but she never let go as I slowly gained control of myself. There were times where I would think I had calmed down, but then my heart would shatter all over again, the jagged pieces ripping holes as they flew every which way. When the tears finally dried and the pained wails died in my throat, all I could do was lay there. I was so unbelievably exhausted at this point and I just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again. As my tears dried out and I breathed in Sang's scent, sweet and soothing and home, I felt almost numb as she continued to rock me.

"Seth?"

I startled almost violently at the sound of my name from a hoarse, roughened voice that was alien in sound but familiar in intonation. With dread I pulled away from Sang to find my best friend holding onto the wall for support only five feet away from where we sat. To be frankly honest, he looked like death warmed over and as if a strong wind would blow him over.

Aiden looked ridiculously pale in the harsh florescent lighting of the hospital, his face riddled with bruises in all shades of colors. His blond hair was shaved completely to the quick on one side and a long, sutured cut was clearly visible on his exposed scalp. Black bruises in the very clear imprint of large hands ringed his thin neck and a tapestry of bruises trailed down the little bit of his chest and arms that I could see. A cast surrounded his left forearm and his left foot was nestled in a large boot.

Despite the obvious weight of the support-wear, he was hovering it above the ground and using the wall to balance on his functioning leg. Pain was clear on his pale face and sweat dripped down, indicating how much he had pushed himself to reach us. His blue eyes, so usually calm and deep as the sea, were masked in agony and a glint of determination.

All I could do as I stared at him like an idiot was wish that I was suddenly anywhere else but here. I couldn't do this right now. I wouldn't survive a second blow in as many hours. Aiden was my first ever friend, my best friend, and losing him would be too much for me. As I buried my face into Sang's shoulder once more, I did what I could to brace for the accusations, the hatred, the yelling that was sure to come at any moment.

"Seth, are you okay?"

I froze at the unexpected question, sure I had misheard him somehow. I raised my head once more to meet Aiden's blue eyes, my disbelief probably clear as day as I stared up at him. He was the one who had been put into a hospital, because of me, and he was asking if I was okay?

"Seth? Man, are you hurt?"

And the whole thing was so damn ludicrous and I was stretched so thin at this point that I burst out into a riot of giggles. Both Sang and Aiden were staring at me in concern at this point and I sounded unhinged, even to my ears. This whole day wasn't funny in the slightest, but I couldn't seem to stop. The more I tried, the harder I laughed and then suddenly I was crying once more.

"Dude, you just got the crap beat out of you by my psychotic monster of a father and you're asking ME if I'M hurt?"

I knew I sounded almost angry as I lobbied that question his way, but he didn't flinch in the slightest. He only calmly assessed me behind the sheen on pain that still painted his pale blue eyes.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" he asked after a moment, sounding for all the world as if he was stating something obvious to a small child. I could only stare back at him as he waited patiently for an answer, even as the pain slowly increased the longer he stood there.

"Are you an idiot? You were at the sadistic hands of Sir, because of me. You had the crap beat out of you and he threatened to kill you if you ever see me again. All because of me, dammit! Aisling saw the truth in that fact, knew it was my fault, and now she never wants to see me again. I'm bad luck dammit, I bring pain to all those around me! You should be running away from me as fast and far as you can!"

"Oh, Seth…," Sang murmured, so sad and anguished as if her heart was breaking too.

Silence followed afterwards and Sang tightened her arms around me as more tears trickled down my salt stained cheeks. Aiden only stared at me a moment more before he closed his eyes and softly shook his head.

"Aisling is cut from an entirely different type of cloth than you and I are, Seth. She's a good girl, don't get me wrong, and I wish to God that I could have prevented this whole thing from happening to her, but she was not prepared for this. Now you and I? We were forged into what we are now from things most people could only imagine and cry about. Was your biological father scary? I won't lie, he was scary as hell and I never want to see him again if I can help it. But the thing is, I am not more afraid of your "Sir" than I care for you."

As he tapered off shyly, he pushed himself lightly from the wall and hopped the last few feet until he was right in front of us. I could only stare up at him in something like awe as he wobbled a second and regained his balance. A smile, heartbreakingly shy and more beautiful for the sincerity behind it, graced his battered face, pulling painfully at swollen and bruised flesh.

"Really, there's only one thing I want to know from you right now, Seth. It's not about why this happened or why your father is a bastard." At this point, he extended one hand out to me, where it hovered in front of my stunned face. "It's simple, really. Do you want to be friends?"

And with that simple handshake, my shattered heart was patched over and soothed, the Jagged edged smoothed over some. With that simple handshake, I found the strength to smile after I thought I would never do so again. With that simple handshake, I gained more than a best friend. With that handshake, I gained another brother for life.

**XxXxXxX**

AN: And that is all for now my dear birdies! I hope you like the fact that this ended on a happy note this time around, though I know this chapter was a little emotionally brutal. :S Please, let me know what you thought of it!


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